Use of Nano Technology (Nano Gro) To Boost Productivity and Increase Pest Resistance in Okra Crop for Export in Southern Honduras.

Abstract

The present study reports the effect of the nanotechnology molecule “Nano Gro” on a number of agronomical variables of okra, Abelmoschus esculentus, as well as its effect on leaf miner, white fly, Bemisia tabaci, and Spodoptera larvae attacking the crop. Most initial data was taken in a trial used for the registration of Nano Gro as an agricultural amendment in Honduras, carried in a plot worked by Juan Benito Guevara, a local okra producer farming in Las Bazas, very near the city of Choluteca, next to the Choluteca river, in Southern Honduras. However, other important data was taken on plots from different local okra companies and producers in the Choluteca area. The stimulant Nano Gro is a mixture of sulfates and elements such as Fe, Co, Al, Mg, Mn, Ni and Ag, produced at a concentration of 10-9 mol, available in the form of an oligosacharid pellet. It has OMRI certification and can be used in organic and regular agriculture. According to the Honduran distributor (Núcleo Agro), Nano Gro stimulates the plant´s natural resistance to abiotic stress, which in turn makes the plant produce growth hormones like auxins, gibberellines and cytokinines. This hormone productionmakes the use of nutrients and water more efficient, resulting in greater plant resistance, greater performance and greater quality of fruit harvested.