Nano Fertilizer on Sustainable Agriculture- A Review

With an increment of population day by day the agriculture sector is facing a big issue with the production and the economics of production as well. In this scenario adoption of more efficient tools which could mitigate the drawbacks and led the agriculture in a sustainable way is the need of the hour. The application of nanotechnology in agriculture and forestry will help the environment to retain its biodiversity [1]. Nano fertilizers are synthesized or modified form of traditional fertilizers, fertilizers bulk materials or extracted from different vegetative or reproductive parts of the plant by different chemical, physical, mechanical or biological methods with the help of nanotechnology used to improve soil fertility, productivity and quality of agricultural produces [2].

In this particular scenario adoption of labour saving and well advanced technologies is badly needed. This could be mitigated by a eco-friendly technology of Nano-science [3]. Nano fertilizers can control nutrient release and give the proper amount of nutrients to crops in the right proportions, boosting yield while maintaining environmental safety [4]. A report by Dwairi [5] proposed that urea-impregnated zeolite may be utilised as a slow-release fertiliser, releasing nitrogen slowly and steadily from Nano zeolite. Zinc is one of the commonly deficient micronutrient in soil [6]. Chlorophyll formation, fertilisation, pollen function, and auxin synthesis all need zinc-containing nanomaterials. Zn is one of the elements that defend plants from drought conditions. [7]. A research by Raliya and Tarafdar in 2013 [8] showed that zinc oxide, Nano Particles were shown to improve chlorophyll content, protein synthesis, rhizospheric microbial activity, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, and phytase activity in a cluster bean rhizosphere. Copper has characteristics of first transported to shoot and then re translocated into root [9]. An experiment on moong bean (Vigna radiata) and wheat revealed that nano copper could penetrate cell membrane and conglomerate thereafter. Moong bean was found to be more sensitive regarding the toxicity of nano copper than wheat [10], (Rico et al. 2011)