Advancement of Nanotechnology 12 Applications on Plant Nutrients Management and Soil Improvement

Abstract

Food security is one of the major concerns for all developing countries of the world. Even though we had attained the highest food surplus for feeding every individual with the help of technology advancement like green revolution, we may not able to feed the burgeoning population adequately in coming years due to stagnant crop productivity. Furthermore, widespread existence of nutrient deficiency in soils had resulted in great economic loss for farmers and significant decrease in nutritional quality and quantity of grains for human beings and livestock. Natural source of nutrients like organic manures and external source of nutrients, viz. fertilisers, are considered as the two eyes in plant nutrient management in which fertilisers hold the centre of attraction in recent years for enhancing the agricultural production. However, their nutrient use efficiency is still very low due to numerous pathways of losses such as leaching, denitrification, microbial immobilisation, fixation and runoff. So, refinement of fertiliser particles through advanced technology of nanoscience is mandatory for better usage of fertilisers without any means of losses and increase the fertiliser use efficiency and nutrient uptake ratio. Nanotechnology is a novel, innovative and interdisciplinary scientific approach that involves the design, development and application of materials and devices at molecular level in nanometre scale, i.e. at least one dimension ranges in size from 1 to 100 nanometres (nm). Nanoparticles have small size, large surface to volume ratio, higher chemical reactivity, enhanced solubility and unique magnetic and optical properties. Nanotechnology-based fertilisers, i.e. nanofertilisers, are very popular among the researchers and fertiliser industries due to their controlled and targeted delivery mechanism and can able to improve the crop productivity by enhancing the seed germination, seedling growth, photosynthetic activity, energy metabolism, protein synthesis and enzymes-related functions. Apart from that, nanotechnology-based soil-binding products are helpful for improving the soil water management and retarding the soil erosion. In this chapter, advanced researches and potential applications of nanotechnology on plant nutrient management and soil improvement have been assessed.