Nanotechnology has several potential applications in agriculture including improving seed management, plant nutrition, and pest and weed control. Some key applications are using nanobarcodes to track seeds, nanoencapsulating fertilizers and pesticides for controlled release and increased efficacy, and developing nanoherbicides that target specific weed receptors to reduce herbicide resistance. Overall, nanotechnology can help increase crop yields and quality while reducing agricultural inputs and environmental impacts through more precise and efficient application of seeds, water, fertilizers and pesticides.
1. Application of Nanotechnology in Agriculture
- Tillage, Seed, Water, Fertilizers, Plant
Protection for Scaling-up Farm Productivity
PRESENTED BY
DR. H.A. ARCHANA
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
2. Introduction
• Greek "nanos" (or Latin "nanus"), which meaning
"Dwarf," is where the word "nano" comes from.
• The prefix "nano" means one billionth. One nanometer
(abbreviated as 1 nm) is 1/1,000,000,000 of a meter.
3. Definition
• Nanoscience is the study of the fundamental principles of
molecules and structures with at least one dimension
roughly between 1 and 100 nanometers.
• Nanotechnology is the application of these nanostructures
into useful nanoscale devices.
4. Nanotechnology in tillage
• Mechanical tillage techniques enhance soil structure, boost porosity,
better distribute soil particles, and ultimately change the physical
characteristics of soil.
• Using nanomaterials improves soil pH and structure.
• In addition to lowering soil erosion, it also decreases the mobility,
availability, and toxicity of heavy metals.
• In addition to lowering the soil's shear strength, nanoparticles in
the soil also reduce cohesion and internal friction.
• Reduced soil particle adhesion makes it easier and more energy-
efficient to smash lumps.
5. Nanotechnology in Seed Science
In wind pollinated crops, producing seeds is a laborious process.
Genetic purity can be assured with certainty by identifying pollen
loads that will lead to contamination. Air temperature, humidity,
wind speed, and crop pollen production all influence pollen flight.
Utilizing nanobiosensors designed to detect contaminated pollen
can assist identify potential contamination and thus lower
contamination.
The pollen from genetically modified crops can also be avoided
from contaminating field crops using the same technique.
New genes are put into seeds that are then offered for sale.
6. Nanobarcodes, which are durable, machine-readable, encodeable,
and sub-micron sized taggants, could be used to track sold seeds.
Disease spreads through seeds, and infections frequently destroy
stored seeds.
• Using elemental forms of Zn, Mn, Pa, Pt, Au, and Ag in nanoscale
seed coatings will not only protect seeds but also utilise far less
material than is now done.
Smart seed is a type of nano encapsulated seed that has a
particular bacterial strain.
As a result, it will lower the seed rate, guarantee a good field stand,
and enhance crop performance.
7. Nanotechnology in Water Use
Utilizing nanoscopic materials for nanofiltration, such as
carbon nanotubes and alumina filters, nanotechnology is
used to purify water.
It makes use of the tiny pores found in nano catalysts,
magnetic nanoparticles, and zeolite filtration membranes.
Nearly all types of water impurities, such as turbidity, oil
bacteria, viruses, and organic contaminants, may be
eliminated by carbon nanotube membranes and
nanofibrous alumina filters.
8. Nanotechnology in Fertilizers
Fertilizers have been essential in increasing the yield of food
grains in India.
Despite the enormous success in agricultural production, it has
been shown that uneven fertilisation and a decline in soil organic
matter content have caused yields of many crops to plateau.
Excessive nitrogen fertiliser use degrades groundwater quality
and contributes to eutrophication in aquatic habitats.
The fact that fertiliser use efficiency is 20–50% for nitrogen and
10–25% for phosphorus is alarming.
9. The only way to prevent eutrophication and drinking water
contamination with the potential for nutrient build up in soil is to
use nano fertilisers, an emerging substitute for traditional fertilisers.
Nanotechnology has also reduced the price of environmental
protection while increasing the efficiency of nutrient utilisation.
Nano-fertilizers and nanocomposites with slow release are great
substitutes for soluble fertilisers. Throughout the growth of the crop,
nutrients are released more slowly, but most of them can be
absorbed by the plants without going to waste.
10. A type of naturally occurring minerals called zeolites, which have
layered crystal structures resembling honeycombs, can be
employed to gradually release nutrients into the environment.
It is possible to add nitrogen and potassium to its network of
interconnected tunnels and cages in addition to other slowly
dissolving compounds that provide phosphorus, calcium, and a
broad range of minor and trace nutrients.
Zeolite holds nutrients and releases them gradually "on demand."
11. Nanomembranes can be applied to fertiliser particles to enable the
gradual release of nutrients.
Nano-composites that are being considered as a way to give all the
nutrients in the proper amounts using "Smart" delivery systems also
need to be carefully looked at.
Currently, the loss of 50–70% of the nitrogen provided by conventional
fertilisers results in a low nutrient usage efficiency.
One of these new facilities, which works in one of three ways,
encapsulates nutrients inside a nanoparticle.
The nutrient may be given as nanoscale-sized particles or emulsions,
coated with a thin polymer coating, or as nanoporous materials.
12. Nanotechnology in Plant protection
Using pesticides continuously during the early stages of crop
growth aids in reducing the pest population below the point at
which it becomes economically unviable and prolongs the
effectiveness of the control. Therefore, one of the most practical
and economical ways to manage insect pests is to utilise active
substances on the surface that is being treated.
By protecting the active ingredient from unfavourable
environmental conditions and promoting persistence, a
nanotechnology technique known as "nano-encapsulation" can
be used to boost the insecticidal value.
13. Nanoencapsulation involves sealing tiny amounts of the active
substances inside a sac or shell with a thin wall (protective
coating).
Insecticides, fungicides, or nematicides can be nanoencapsulated to
create formulations that effectively manage pests while limiting the
buildup of residues in the soil.
To increase the efficacy of the formulation, a nanotechnology
approach of "controlled release of the active component" may be
applied, which may greatly reduce the amount of pesticide input
and associated environmental concerns. By doing this, the active
ingredient will be more persistent and protected against
deterioration.
14. Nano-pesticides will reduce the rate of application because the
quantity of product needed to achieve an effective result is at least
10-15 times less than that applied with conventional formulations,
allowing for the possibility of using much less than the typical
amount to achieve much better and prolonged management.
Clay nanotubes (halloysite), which were just developed as
pesticide carriers at a low cost, for prolonged release and more
interaction with plants, would reduce the amount of pesticides by
70–80%, cutting the cost of pesticide with little influence on water
streams.
15. Nanotechnology in Weed Management
Herbicide resistance develops when a plant community is
repeatedly exposed to one herbicide in one season and a different
herbicide in another season. At some point, this resistance sets in
and the plant community is no longer controllable by chemicals.
A specific receptor in the roots of the target weeds is the target of
the development of a herbicide chemical that is specific to the
target and encased in a nanoparticle. This receptor penetrates the
root system and is translocated to elements that prevent the root
system's food reserve from being converted to glycogen. This will
result in the specific weed plant running out of food and dying.
16. In rainfed areas where application of herbicides with
insufficient soil moisture may result in loss as vapour, it is
envisaged that controlled release of encapsulated
herbicides will inhibit the weeds that compete with crops.
There are now herbicide adjuvants on the market that
claim to contain nanoparticles.
Excessive pesticide use damages succeeding crops by
leaving residue in the soil. Herbicide-resistant weed
species evolve as a result of repeated application, and the
weed flora changes.
17. Atrazine is an s-triazine-ring herbicide that is used all over the world to
control pre- and post-emergence broadleaf and grassland weeds.
It has a high persistence (half life of 125 days) and mobility in some
types of soils.
Due to lingering problems brought on by the use of atrazine, which also
limits the kinds of crops that can be rotated, herbicide use runs the risk
of becoming widely employed.
Using silver modified with magnetite nanoparticles stabilised with
Carboxy Methyl Cellulose (CMC) nanoparticles caused an 88%
degradation of herbicide atrazine residue in a controlled environment,
and it was discovered that this method might be used to quickly remove
atrazine residue from soil.
