Title : Nanofertilizer: Key player for global farming and higher food production
Abstract:
Nanofertilizers are at the leading age of a rapidly developing field of nanotechnology. It can be synthesized through physical, chemical, aerosol and biological techniques. It has the potential to control release of nutrients, site targeted delivery, reduction in toxicity and nutrient use efficiency. It can be applied to the plants through foliage, soil, under drip, sprinkler, hydroponic, aeroponic and aquaponic. The uptake rate of nanonutrients by plants also depends on their shape and sizes. In general, small sizes of nanoparticles can be penetrating through the cuticle while larger nanoparticles can penetrate through cuticle-free areas such as hydathodes, the stigma of flowers and stomata. The requirement of nanofertilizers are 30-100 times less than chemical fertilizer, it is 4-20 times more efficient than chemical fertilizer with 2-4 times less costly. It has triggering effect of plant and microbial enzymes and improves the solubility of insoluble nutrient in soil and has effective duration of nutrient supply. It can influenced polysaccharide production to polysaccharide producing organisms resulted more soil aggregation, moisture retention and soil carbon build up. The average improvement of yield, irrespective of crops and soil types, varies between 24-32% as compared to 12-18% under chemical fertilizers. Unlike chemical fertilizer, it has ability to maintain the soil health like organic fertilizers. Nanofertilizer has proved to be very safe with recommended doses of application. It protects plants from abiotic and biotic stresses and can overcome all major problems with conventional fertilizers. It can be used in all stages of plant growth i.e. from the seed treatment to grain storage. It can make as nano-bioformulations to protect biofertilizers and increase its efficiency. It has the potential to prevent environmental (soil, air, water) pollution and has ability to mitigate climate change. Nanofertilizer has been implicated in the protection of plants against oxidative stress as they mimic the role of antioxidative enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POX).
Audience Take Away Notes
- Nanofertilizers may prevent environmental ( air, water, soil) pollution and help to mitigate climate change.
- It has the potential to reduce chemical fertilizer application and can compromise with biofertilizers.
- Nanofertilizers are very safe with recommended doses of application and can maintain soil health.
- It can increase the nutrient use efficiency and crop yield over chemical fertilizer as well as draw more profit with much lower investment.
- It can protect plants from biotic and abiotic stresses and help to increase the efficiency of biofertilizer also potential as key player for global food production.
