Nanotechnology monitors a leading agricultural controlling process, especially by its miniature dimension. The application of nanotechnology to agriculture and food industries is resonant increased encumbrance because of the potential benefits ranging from enhanced food quality, safety to reduced agricultural inputs and enriched absorbing nanoscale nutrients from the soil. Agriculture, food and natural resources are a part of those challenges like sustainability, susceptibility, human health and healthy life. The ambition of nanomaterials in agriculture is to reduce the amount of spread chemicals, minimize nutrient losses in fertilization and increased yield through pest and nutrient management. Nanotechnology has the prospective to improve the agriculture and food industry with novel nanotools for the controlling of rapid disease diagnostic, enhancing the capacity of plants to absorb nutrients among others. The significant interest of using nanotechnology in agriculture includes specific applications like nanofertilizers and nanopesticides to trail products and nutrients levels to increase the productivity without decontamination of soils, waters and protection against several insect pest and microbial diseases. Nanotechnology may act as sensors for monitoring soil quality of agricultural field and thus it maintain the health of agricultural plants.This study provides a review of the current challenges of sustainability, food security and climate change that are exploring by the researchers in the area of nanotechnology in the improvement of agriculture.

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Nanotechnology in Sustainable Agriculture: Recent Developments, Challenges, and Perspectives.

In the era of climate change, global agricultural systems are facing numerous, unprecedented challenges. In order to achieve food security, advanced nano-engineering is a handy tool for boosting crop production and assuring sustainability. Nanotechnology helps to improve agricultural production by increasing the efficiency of inputs and minimizing relevant losses. Nanomaterials offer a wider specific surface area to fertilizers and pesticides. In addition, nanomaterials as unique carriers of agrochemicals facilitate the site-targeted controlled delivery of nutrients with increased crop protection. Due to their direct and intended applications in the precise management and control of inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides), nanotools, such as nanobiosensors, support the development of high-tech agricultural farms. The integration of biology and nanotechnology into nonosensors has greatly increased their potential to sense and identify the environmental conditions or impairments. In this review, we summarize recent attempts at innovative uses of nanotechnologies in agriculture that may help to meet the rising demand for food and environmental sustainability.

https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/24/14/2558/pdf

Applications of Nanotechnology in Plant Growth and Crop Protection: A Review

An increasing need of nanotechnology in various industries may cause a huge environment dispersion of nanoparticles in coming years. A concern about nanoparticles interaction with flora and fauna is raised due to a growing load of it in the environment. In recent years, several investigators have shown impact of nanoparticles on plant growth and their accumulation in food source. This review examines the research performed in the last decade to show how metal and metal oxide nanoparticles are influencing the plant metabolism. We addressed here, the impact of nanoparticle on plant in relation to its size, concentration, and exposure methodology. Based on the available reports, we proposed oxidative burst as a general mechanism through which the toxic effects of nanoparticles are spread in plants. This review summarizes the current understanding and the future possibilities of plant-nanoparticle research.

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Impact of Metal and Metal Oxide Nanoparticles on Plant: A Critical Review.

Various nano-enabled strategies are proposed to improve crop production and meet the growing global demands for food, feed and fuel while practising sustainable agriculture. After providing a brief overview of the challenges faced in the sector of crop nutrition and protection, this Review presents the possible applications of nanotechnology in this area. We also consider performance data from patents and unpublished sources so as to define the scope of what can be realistically achieved. In addition to being an industry with a narrow profit margin, agricultural businesses have inherent constraints that must be carefully considered and that include existing (or future) regulations, as well as public perception and acceptance. Directions are also identified to guide future research and establish objectives that promote the responsible and sustainable development of nanotechnology in the agri-business sector.

Nano-enabled strategies to enhance crop nutrition and protection.

Elemental silicon (Si), after oxygen, is the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust, which is mainly composed of silicates. Si is not considered essential for plant growth and development, however increasing evidence in the literature shows that this metalloid is beneficial to plants, especially under stress conditions. Indeed Si alleviates the toxic effects caused by abiotic stresses, e.g. salt stress, drought, heavy metals, to name a few. Biogenic silica is also a deterrent against herbivores. Additionally, Si ameliorates the vigour of plants and improves their resistance to exogenous stresses. The protective role of Si was initially attributed to a physical barrier fortifying the cell wall (e.g. against fungal hyphae penetration), however several studies have shown that the action of this element on plants is far more complex, as it involves a cross-talk with the cell interior and an effect on plant metabolism. In this study the beneficial role of Si on plants will be discussed, by reviewing the available data in the literature. Emphasis will be given to the protective role of Si during (a)biotic stresses and in this context both priming and the effects of Si on endogenous phytohormones will be discussed. A whole section will be devoted to the use of silica (SiO2) nanoparticles, in the light of the interest that nanotechnology has for agriculture. The paper also discusses the potential technological aspects linked to the use of Si in agriculture and to modify/improve the physical parameters of plant fibers. The study indeed provides perspectives on

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Silicon and Plants: Current Knowledge and Technological Perspectives.

Recent scientific data indicate that nanotechnology has the potential to positively impact the agrifood sector, minimizing adverse problems of agricultural practices on environment and human health, improving food security and productivity (as required by the predicted rise in global population), while promoting social and economic equity. In this context, we select and report on recent trends in nanomaterial-based systems and nanodevices that could provide benefits on the food supply chain specifically on sustainable intensification, and management of soil and waste. Among others, nanomaterials for controlled-release of nutrients, pesticides and fertilizers in crops are described as well as nanosensors for agricultural practices, food quality and safety.

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Nanotechnology in Agriculture: Which Innovation Potential Does It Have?

The development of a sustainable bio-based economy has drawn much attention in recent years, and research to find smart solutions to the many inherent challenges has intensified. In nature, perhaps the best example of an authentic sustainable system is oxygenic photosynthesis. The biochemistry of this intricate process is empowered by solar radiation influx and performed by hierarchically organized complexes composed by photoreceptors, inorganic catalysts, and enzymes which define specific niches for optimizing light-to-energy conversion. The success of this process relies on its capability to exploit the almost inexhaustible reservoirs of sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to transform photonic energy into chemical energy such as stored in adenosine triphosphate. Oxygenic photosynthesis is responsible for most of the oxygen, fossil fuels, and biomass on our planet. So, even after a few billion years of evolution, this process unceasingly supports life on earth, and probably soon also in outer-space, and inspires the development of enabling technologies for a sustainable global economy and ecosystem. The following review covers some of the major milestones reached in photosynthesis research, each reflecting lasting routes of innovation in agriculture, environmental protection, and clean energy production.

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Photosynthesis at the forefront of a sustainable life

The application of nanotechnologies to the agrifood sector provides one of the innovative tools able to support change in a system that, through its intensification and industrialization, currently fails both humans and the environment. The development of green nanotechnology, which exploits biological routes for the synthesis of nanomaterials, and specifically aims to minimize the production of hazardous substances and the input of energy, further underlines the disruptive potential of this technology. Due to the lack of toxic chemicals during their synthesis and to their high adaptability, green nanomaterials thus produced have a wide application domain, and this is reflected in the number of sustainable development goals affected by their use. This review describes the last trends on the eco-designed nanomaterials produced by means of green strategies for application in agriculture, such as nanofertilisers, nanopesticides, and nano(bio)sensors.

Green nanomaterials fostering agrifood sustainability

Nanotechnologies for Agriculture and Foods: Past and Future

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elena_Manakova/publication/256767476_Corrigendum_to_Crystal_Structure_of_Wild-type_Chaperonin_GroEL_J._Mol._Biol._%282005%29_354_940951/links/0046352b4282459c30000000.pdf

Cecilia Bartolucci

Papers

Nanotechnology in Agriculture: Which Innovation Potential Does It Have?

Photosynthesis at the forefront of a sustainable life

Green nanomaterials fostering agrifood sustainability

Nanotechnologies for Agriculture and Foods: Past and Future

Corrigendum to “Crystal Structure of Wild-type Chaperonin GroEL” [J. Mol. Biol. (2005) 354, 940–951]