Understanding the Role of Nanomaterials in Agriculture

Abstract

Nanotechnology offers immense opportunities for improvement in the quality of life through applications in agriculture and the food systems. Development of nanotechnology-based novel agro-products, viz., nanosensors, nano-fertilizers, nano-pesticides and nanoformulations of biocontrol agents, is currently a subject of intense investigation. A variety of nanomaterials has been recommended for use in agriculture, in order to help reduce the consumption of agrochemicals by use of smart delivery systems, minimize the nutrient losses and increase the yield through optimized water and nutrients management. Nanotechnology-derived devices have also been explored in the areas of plant breeding and genetics. Additionally, the agricultural products and/or by-products can be utilized as a source for developing bio-nanocomposites. Nevertheless, the potential advantages of nanotechnology applications in the agricultural sector are still marginal, and have not been commercialized to a signifi cant extent, as compared to other industrial sectors. Researches in the area of agricultural nanotechnology are being extensively pursued in quest for the solutions to the agricultural and environmental challenges, such as sustainability, increased productivity, disease management and crop protection through innovative techniques for monitoring, assessing and controlling the agricultural practices. This chapter provides a basic knowledge about the role of nanotechnology in developing sustainable agriculture and environment, and eventually in the welfare of human society, at large, in the near future.

Nanoparticles: a Novel Approach for Sustainable Agro-productivity

“…Therefore, it could be sustained the agricultural production using different nanomaterials and nanoparticles. This point of view has been explained in details in many studies such as Ditta et al (2015), Belal and El-Ramady (2016), Chhipa and Joshi (2016), Chhipa (2016), Dubey and Mailapalli (2016), Dwivedi et al (2016), Panpatte et al (2016), Shalaby et al (2016, etc. Hence, the sustainable agricultural production using different nanomaterials can be performed in different natural resources including plants Kole et al 2016;Dubey et al 2016), water (Dasgupta et al 2016), soil (Belal andEl-Ramady 2016;Shalaby et al 2016), energy (Rai and da Silva 2017), etc.…”

“…This nanotechnology has the ability to penetrate different agricultural fields including treatment and detection of plant diseases (Park et al 2006;Al-Samarrai 2012;Servin et al 2015;Álvarez et al 2016;Mignani et al 2017;Ray et al 2017), using as sensors (Fryxell and Cao 2007;Otles and Yalcin 2010;Farrell et al 2013;Ansari et al 2016;Chhipa and Joshi 2016;Dubey and Mailapalli 2016;Jyoti and Tomar 2016;Purkayastha and Manhar 2016;Bäcker et al 2017;Bazin et al 2017;Ray et al 2017;Saylan et al 2017),( Only recent references are sufficient) nanofertilizers (Naderi and Danesh-Shahraki 2013;Tarafdar et al 2014;Dubey and Mailapalli 2016;Chhipa 2016;Chhipa and Joshi 2016), nanopesticides (Kah et al 2013Dubey and Mailapalli 2016;Chhipa 2016;Chhipa and Joshi 2016;Pandey et al 2016;Balaure et al 2017;Jacques et al 2017), and using in gene transfer as smart delivery systems (Peters et al 2016;Singh and Prasad 2016). The over application of nanomaterials in agriculture leads to the negative effects representing in the toxic action of these nanomaterials for the agroecosystems (Holden et al 2013;Hong et al 2013;García-Gómez et al 2015;Belal and El-Ramady 2016;Dwivedi et al 2016;El-Temsah et 2016;…”

“…Nearly all agricultural practices and production may be touched or penetrated by the nanotechnological sciences. So, several agroproducts could not be only fabricated using nanomaterials but also a huge amount of agrowastes can be managed using these nanomaterials (Dwivedi et al 2016;Panpatte et al 2016;Peters et al 2016;Adebisi et al 2017;Patil et al 2017). Hence, great challenges have been created seeking for the sustainability of agro-production including soil security, water, security, energy security, food security, reduction of poverty and improvement of human public health (Ditta et al 2015;Gupta and Verma 2015;Bello et al 2016;De La Cueva Bueno et al 2017;Nuhoff-Isakhanyan et al 2017).…”

“…Therefore, the topic of nanoparticles could be considered as one of the most important tools in sustainable agro-production by improving the productivity of crops including crops for human consumption and animal feeding as well as reducing pesticide use (Dwivedi et al 2016;Shalaby et al 2016;Thakur and Maiti 2016). Furthermore, the application of nanoparticles can help the environment through agro-waste reduction as well as high-value products and pollution control (Hong et al 2013;Belal and El-Ramady 2016;Bäuerlein et al 2017).…”

Bio-assisted synthesis of ferric sulphide nanoparticles for agricultural applications

“…The nanotechnology has got intensive applications for the enhancement of agricultural yield, along with the promising technologies for example biotechnology that including plant breeding, fertilizer technology, genetics and disease control. To overcome the challenges in sustainable production and food security, considerable scientific innovations have been made in the field of agricultural [1,2]. Using the natural and synthetic resources, agricultural innovations are very essential to resolve the increasing food demand all around the global population.…”