2. Nanotechnology in Agriculture
• Nanotechnology deals systems at the nanoscale.
• At this level, chemical and physical properties such as size, shape, structure, charge, surface
composition, or agglomeration can be modified.
• This technology represents a new revolutionary paradigm in agriculture.
• Wide variety of agricultural applications such as controlled release of herbicides or pesticides,
and encapsulation of nutrients inside a nanoporous material for subsequent release, avoiding
interaction and losses via soil, water, air, or microorganisms.
• Can serve as a key factor in sustainable development of agriculture.
• The application of nanomaterials in agriculture incorporates the development of
nanofertilizers, nanoherbicides, nanopesticides, nanosensors, and nanotracers.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY.
3. Nanofertilizers • Nanofertilizers are modified fertilizers synthesized by
chemical, physical, or biological methods using
nanotechnology to improve their attributes and composition,
which can enhance the productivity of crops
• They exhibit several advantages over conventional
fertilizers, as they increase the quality parameters of
farming
• Demonstrated that the use of zinc oxide nanoparticles
(ZnO-NP) expanded the germination of the Sesamum
indicum plant.
• Urea–hydroxyapatite nanohybrids to achieve slow release
of nitrogen, concluding that the use of nanourea can
increase yields and reduce the use of conventional
fertilizers
• Nanofertilizers have less toxic consequences for humans
than traditional products, as well as minimizing costs by
increasing the quantity and quality of products
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/en/d
0en00797h
4. Benefits of using
nanofertilizers
• Higher product quality with minimum
remnants.
• Eco-friendly synthesis.
• Custom-made products.
• Lower-cost production, reducing the amount
of fertilizers used.
• Less negative impacts and toxicity.
• Controlled release of plant nutrients
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S235218
6421003060
5. Properties
Property Nanofertilizer Challenges
Controlled release Nanofertilizers can control the
speed and doses of nutrient
solution release
Reactivity and composition
variations due to environment
factors
Nutrient loss Leakage and waste caused by
application of fertilizers can be
reduced
Environmental effects after
conclusion of the nanofertilizer
life cycle
Duration of release Nanofertilizers can extend the
duration of nutrient release in
comparison with regular fertilizers
Phytotoxicity effects due to the
dose and time of exposure
Efficiency The uptake ratio is increased and
the release time of
nanostructures is reduced
Long-term environmental effects,
as well as chronic effects on final
consumers
Solubility and dispersion Absorption and fixation of
nutrients by the soil are
improved, increasing their
bioavailability
Complete ecotoxicological
profiles, taking into account the
consequences for health and the
environment
8. Production
• The nano-fertilizers are synthesized by fortifying nutrients singly or in combinations onto
the adsorbents with nano-dimension.
• One of the main characteristics of nanofertilizers is their ability to be synthesized using
chemical, physical, and biological methods.
• The biological technique is also known as “green synthesis” because it involves use of
plants, fungi, bacteria, algae, and yeasts as reducing and stabilization agents
Microorganism Types of nanoparticle
Pelargonium graveolens Ag-NP
Candida glabrata PbS-NP
Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sb2O3
Lactobacillus sp. Au-NP, Ag-NP
Escherichia coli Au-NP
TABLE- Microorganisms used in nanoparticle synthesis
9. NANO-FERTILIZER FROM BANANA PEELS
The synthesized nanofertilizers contained chelated potassium, chelated iron,
tryptophan, urea, amino acids, protein, and citric acid
Banana peels are the
organic waste
Banana peels were
shredded and blended
with tap water with
determined quantity of
potassium hydroxide
stirred for a minute to
result a slurry
The alkaline blended
slurry was boiled for 30
minutes and then
cooled to room
temperature
The cold slurry was
subjected to vacuum
filtration to get a clear
brown filtrate and thick
dark brown sludge.
the clear filtrate was
heated to about 70 °C,
with continuous stirring
at 300 rpm
urea and citric acid (5%
solution) were added
dropwise till pH 5 .
the obtained sludge
was dried at 105 °C
then ground to fine
powder (Nanofertilizer)
with size ranged from
19 to 55 nm,
10. NANO-FERTILIZER VIA INCORPORATION OF
ALGINATE-CHITOSAN
Potassium nano-fertilizer was synthesised by incorporating potassium in alginate-chitosan carrier
via ionotropic pregelation. Potassium nano-fertilizer was prepared on a four-step process
the preparation of
potassiumalginate solution
(K-ALG) 117.5mL of ALG
was mixed with MOP and
sonicated for 20 minutes at
room temperature
On pre-gelation step, CaCl2
was added dropwise to K-
ALG to form pre-gel while
sonicating at 37 kHz at RT
On stabilization step, 25 mL
of Chitosan Stock Solution
(CHI) was added dropwise
to stabilize K-ALG while
stirring at 600 rpm for 90
minutes at RT.
The K-ALG- CHI mixture
was stirred for another 30
minutes for better
homogenization
the K-ALG-CHI was allowed
to stand for 24 hours at
room temperature to
complete the chemical
reaction.
After that, the pinkish
viscous solution was oven-
dried at 70oC for 1 hour to
obtain solid formulated
fertilizer
11. NANOPOROUS ZEOLITES
• Nano-clays and zeolites that are a group of naturally occurring minerals with a
honeycomb-like layered crystal structure are other strategies for increasing fertilizer
use efficiency
• Acts as a nutrients supply that are slowly released "on demand".
• The main application of zeolites in agriculture is in nitrogen capture, storage and slow
release
• Ammonium-charged zeolites have shown their capacity to raise the solubility of
phosphate minerals and thus goes to improved phosphorus uptake and yield of crop
plants.
• The possibility of using surfactant-modified zeolite using
hexadecyltrimethylammonium as fertilizer carrier to control nitrate release was
demonstrated and deduced that surfactantmodified zeolite is a suitable sorbent for
12. NANO-FERTILIZER VIA SURFACE MODIFICATION
OF ZEOLITES
Source of nitrogen include ammonia, diammonium phosphate, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulphate,
calcium cyanamide, calcium nitrate, sodium nitrate and urea
Hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMABr) was used for the surfactant modification of zeolite.
A pre-weighed quantity of zeolite was
mixed with (HDTMABr) in 1:100 ratio
(solid to liquid).
The mixture was agitated for 7-8 h at
150 rpm on an orbital shaker and then
filtered.
The solid residue was washed with
double-distilled deionized water and
oven dried for 4-6h
The synthesized Surfactant Modified
Zeolite (SMZ) was then mechanically
ground with a mortar and pestle into
fine particles.
To prepare nano fertilizer, required
quantities (~170 g) of SMZ were stirred
with a 1.0 M solution of (NH4)2SO4, for
8 h and filtered, washed three times
with deionized water, and oven dried.
The solid: liquid ratio was 1:10 for the
synthesis of nitrogen loaded zeolites.
13. FUNCTIONING OF NANO-FERTILIZERS.
• Nano-fertilizers combines with the nano-devices
• Synchronize the release of fertilizer-N and -P with their uptake by crops, preventing undesirable
nutrient losses to the soil, water and air via direct internalization by crop
• Avoiding the interaction of nutrients with soil, microorganisms, water and air
• Nanostructured formulation might increase fertilizer efficiency and uptake ratio of the soil
nutrients in crop production, and save fertilizer resource.
• Controlled release modes have properties of both release rate and release pattern of nutrients
for water-soluble fertilizers
• Controlled through encapsulation in envelope forms of semi-permeable membranes coated by
resin-polymer, waxes and sulphur.
• Effective duration of nutrient release has desirable property of Nanostructured formulation, it can
extend effective duration of nutrient supply of fertilizers into soil.
• Nanostructured formulation can reduce loss rate of fertilizer nutrients into soil by leaching and/or
leaking.
14. Effects and Critical Considerations
• The use of nanofertilizers in agriculture significantly influences seed germination and growth.
• They can easily penetrate soil and roots, increasing the release of nutrients, chlorophyll formation
and dry matter production, which consequently improve plant growth
• Nanomaterials possess a natural tendency to agglomerate, and this property considerably
reduces their efficacy and promotes the formation of reactive oxygen species
• Several physical and chemical factors— including size, shape, surface chemistry, agglomeration,
surface charge, stability, and storage time influence the toxicity of nanoparticles. For example, the
relationship between the size and toxic effects of Ag-NP was studied, it was observed that
nanoparticles smaller than 40 nm present the potential for hazardous skin penetrations, and
concluded that the critical size should not be less than 70 nm
• The shape of nanoparticles has its influence on toxicity, eg nanorod and nanocube shapes are
less toxic than spherical particles.
• The surface chemistry plays an important role in the behavioral effects of nanoparticles
15. Toxicity issues of nanoparticles in plants, soil microflora
and human being
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10311-020-01125-3
