Introduction
Nanotechnology is basically defined as the engineering of functional systems at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers. Interestingly, a nanometer is one billionth of a meter or 10 -9 of a meter. In other words, it refers to the process of building items from the bottom up with atomic precision, in order to take advantage of benefits such as lighter weight, greater strength and greater chemical reactivity. Today this technology is being used on a large scale.
Most consumer products use nanotechnology that is not known to most of us. From lightweight cell phone screens to lightweight car bumpers and radiation-resistant sunscreens to stain-repellent clothing, everything contains the nanotechnology effect. Even wearable devices play a significant role in exploring the potential of nanotechnology to a great extent.
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Applications of Nanotechnology in Agriculture
In addition to these areas, the impact of nanotechnology can be easily observed in the food and agricultural industry; whether it is reducing the adverse effects of agricultural practices on the environment, ensuring food security or developing nanotechnology-based tools and equipment to improve productivity.
Let's take a look at the various ways in which nanotechnology is playing a beneficial role in agriculture.
1. Sustainable Intensification in Agriculture
Sustainable Intensification refers to the concept of increasing yield without negatively affecting the environment. The approach is to select a combination of practices with the biophysical, social, economic and cultural situation in mind. To this end, new nanomaterials were developed to increase productivity using substances such as inorganic, lipid and polymeric nanoparticles.
These can be used in smart nanosystems designed to immobilize nutrients and release them into the soil. Furthermore, it could also help reduce eutrophication by reducing the amount of nitrogen transferred to groundwater.
2. Assistance in Precision Agriculture
The idea of precision agriculture focuses on minimizing the use of pesticides while ensuring maximum crop productivity. In this context, remote sensing devices, computers and GPS systems can be used to analyze the environment and identify problems associated with crops and their growing environment. The use of nanosensors along with GPS-enabled smart devices will help farmers gain accurate information, thereby helping in making the right decisions regarding plant growth and soil suitability.
3. Improve soil quality
Hydrogels, nanoclays, and nanozeolites have been reported to increase the water-holding capacity of soil and enable slow water release. This, in turn, reduces water scarcity, particularly during the harvest season. Such practices are also useful in the reforestation of degraded areas that have lost soil fertility.
Furthermore, organic materials such as polymers and carbon nanotubes as well as inorganic elements such as nano metals and metal oxides can be used to absorb the contaminants, thereby improving the soil's remediation capacity and reducing the time and cost involved.
4.Stimulation of plant growth
Carbon nanotubes and silver nanoparticles, zinc oxide, etc. can be really useful in remediating plant growth, ensuring that nutrients are utilized optimally by plants. However, the chances of success depend on many factors such as the susceptibility of plant species and other parameters including concentration, composition, size and chemical properties of nanomaterials.
Furthermore, it is crucial to understand the interaction between plants and nanomaterials to identify how much impact is being created in the procedure. To this end, new protocols can be developed and different analytical techniques such as microscopy, magnetic resonance and fluorescence spectroscopy can be used.
5. Powerful monitoring tools
Compared to analytical sensors and biosensors, nanosensors represent a powerful tool with enhanced capabilities. They are defined as analytical devices with at least one dimension not exceeding 100 nm designed to monitor physicochemical properties in difficult-to-access locations. Nanotubes, nanowires, nanoparticles and nanocrystals are used to optimize signal transduction derived from sensing elements in response to exposure to biological and chemical analytes of similar size.
6. Food Supply Chain Management
Nanosensors can also contribute to managing different phases of the food supply chain, including cultivation, harvesting, food processing, transportation, packaging and distribution. These are used as devices to measure soil parameters to detect pathogens or to predict nitrogen intake in order to promote sustainable agricultural practice. Furthermore, these can be developed to monitor and adjust the volume of insecticides in crops.
7. Irrigation system automation
For smart agricultural practices, especially in water-scarce areas, automation of the irrigation system plays a crucial role. Sensor technology has the ability to greatly maximize water use efficiency. They can estimate soil water tension in real time while being coupled with standalone irrigation controllers. Such characteristics lead to sustainable irrigation that involves the assessment of climatic aspects and crop growth, which would otherwise be quite difficult to carry out.
8. Smart packaging to ensure food safety
Smart packaging is important for monitoring food freshness during packaging, transportation, storage and market display. This would help increase the shelf life of food products by introducing antifungal and antimicrobial surfaces, improving heat resistance properties, detecting biochemical changes and altering the permeation behavior of leaves. Nanosensors can act as monitoring systems for -:
• measure physical parameters such as humidity, pH level and temperature
• reveal gas mixtures
• detect pathogens
9. Detecting plant-related health problems
Due to the extreme damage caused by pesticides such as DDT, there is growing concern and awareness regarding environmental protection. As a result, the industry is focusing on developing an integrated pest management system that reflects a combination of intelligent, targeted use of chemicals with granular monitoring of plant health. Such systems can efficiently utilize nanotechnology-enabled devices that act as a preventive and early warning system to identify health problems and offer corrective measures.
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Conclusion
Although several applications of nanotechnology in agriculture have been advocated and explored, there are many issues to be resolved before its effective full-scale implementation. It is necessary to design processes that are easily scalable at an industrial level. Furthermore, the exploration of nanopesticides is important to predict the behavior of nanoparticles in the environment. It is also believed that the challenges posed by a growing population and climate change can be addressed through the introduction of nanomaterials in agriculture.
There are many ways in which nanotechnology can be beneficial, including practices such as efficient pesticide use, resource management, spreading precision agriculture, and reducing waste. However, before this happens, the cost, risk and benefits must be evaluated. Furthermore, it is also essential to assess the impact of nanotechnology on the environment and human health.