Indian agriculture feels the pain of fatigue of green revolution. In the past 50 years, the fertilizer consumption exponentially increased from 0.5 (1960’s) to 24 million tonnes (2013) that commensurate with four-fold increase in food grain output (254 million tonnes) In order to achieve a target of 300 million tonnes of food grains and to feed the burgeoning population of 1.4 billion in 2025, the country will require 45 million tonnes of nutrients as against a current consumption level of 23 million tonnes. The sustainable agriculture and precision farming both are the urgent issues and hence the suitable agro-technological interventions are essential (e.g., nano and biotechnology) for ensuring the safety and sustainability of relevant production system.

1. WEL-COME

2. Seminar on
NANO-FERTILIZERS FOR PRECISION AND SUSTAINABLE
AGRICULTURE
Presentation by
NELWADE KIRAN MOHAN
(REG.NO. 2017A/M115)
RESEARCH GUIDE AND SEMINAR INCHARGE
Dr. Syed Ismail
Head
Department of Soil Science and Agril. Chemistry
VNMKV, Parbhani.

3. CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Nanotechnology- Meaning and Applications
 Nanoparticle
* Definition, Meaning and Concepts
* Properties of Nanoparticles and mode of action
* Method of Synthesis of Nanoparticle
* Different nanoenbled products in Agriculture
 Nano-fertilizers
* Definition, Meaning and Concepts
* Types of Nano-fertilizers
* Advantages and Disadvantages
* Research findings
 Future Trends and Practical Risks of Nano-fertilizers

4. INTRODUCTION

5.  Indian agriculture feels the pain of fatigue of green revolution.
 In the past 50 years, the fertilizer consumption exponentially increased from 0.5
(1960’s) to 24 million tonnes (2013) that commensurate with four-fold increase
in food grain output (254 million tonnes).
In order to achieve a target of 300 million tonnes of food grains and to feed the
burgeoning population of 1.4 billion in 2025, the country will require 45 million
tonnes of nutrients as against a current consumption level of 23 million tonnes.
The sustainable agriculture and precision farming both are the urgent issues
and hence the suitable agro-technological interventions are essential (e.g.,
nano and biotechnology) for ensuring the safety and sustainability of relevant
production system.

6.  Precision agriculture is broadly defined as monitoring and control applied
to agriculture, including site specific application on inputs, timing of
operations and monitoring of crop and employees.
( Lowenberg 1996)
 Concept of precision agriculture is simple:
i. Right input
ii. At Right time
iii. In Right amount
iv. At Right place
v. In Right manner
 Sustainable agriculture is an integrated system of plant and animal
production practices without harming the environment.

7. In fact, the country is in need of a Second Green Revolution.
 Nano-fertilizers are envisioned to have the potential to revolutionize
agriculture.
Fig- 1: Contribution of fertilizer in crop production
Source: www.researchgate.net
 The soil nutrient alone plays 50% role in agriculture production which will
come out from fertilizers.

8. Definition, History and
Applications of Nanotechnology

11. Applications of Nanotechnology in different Discipline
Multidisciplinary

12. Fig: 2 Potential applications of nanotechnology in agriculture
Source: Fraceto et al. 2016

13. Nanoparticle : Definition, Meaning,
Properties, Mode of action and
Method of Synthesis

14.  A nanoparticle (or nanopowder or nanocluster or nanocrystal) is a
small particle with at least one dimension less than 100 nm.
1 Nanometer = 10-9 = 1 billionth of a meter
 It’s hard to imagine just how small nanotechnology is.
 For comparison:
- a virus is roughly 100 nano metres (nm) in size.
- there are 25,400,000 nanometers in an inch
- a sheet of newspaper is about 100,000 nanometers thick
 On a comparative scale, if a marble were a nanometer, then one meter
would be the size of the Earth.

15. Fig: 3 Comparison of size of different factors
Source: Qureshi et al., (2018 ). Int. J. Microbial. App. Sci. 7(2): 3325-3335

16. Properties of Nano-particles
1. Smaller size, larger surface area
2. Increased surface area to volume ratio
3. Can even pass through the plant and animal cell
4. Slow release
5. Specific release

17. Source: frontiersin.org
Fig- 4 Properties of nanoparticles

18. Mode of Action of Nanoparticles
Fig- 5 Simplified fig. showing action of nanoparticles
Source: Steve Suppan 2017: iatp.org

19. Method of Synthesis of Nanoparticles
There are two alternative approaches for synthesis of metallic nanoparticles :
1. Bottom-up Approach
It refers to the construction of a structure atom-by-atom, molecule-by-molecule
or cluster by cluster. In this approach, initially the nanostructures building
blocks (i.e. nanoparticles) are formed and, subsequently, assembled into the
final material using chemical or biological procedure(s) for synthesis.
2. Top-down Approach
In this method, suitable starting material is reduced in size using physical
(e.g. mechanical) or chemical means. Several methods including the commonly
used attrition and pyrolysis can be used for physical synthesis of metallic
nanoparticles.

20. Fig- 6 Methods for synthesis of Nano-particles
Source: Khandelwal et al., (2018). Acta Scientific Agriculture 2(3) 10-13

21. Different Nano-enabled
products in Agriculture and
Nanofertilizers

22. Different nano enabled products in Agriculture:
i. Nano-fertilizers
ii. Nano-pesticides
iii. Nano-herbicide
iv. Nano-biosensors
Fig- 7 Nano-enabled products and related uses in agriculture.
Source : Iavicoli et al., (2017). Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 329: 96–111

23. Nano-fertilizers
 Nanofertilizer refers to a product that delivers nutrients to crops in one
of three ways:
i. The nutrient can be encapsulated inside Nano-materials such as
nanotubes or nanoporous materials.
ii. Coated with a thin protective polymer film.
iii. Delivered as particles or emulsions of nanoscale dimensions.
Fig- 8 Simplified illustration of the production of nanoenabled bulk fertilizer
Source: Dimkpa et al., (2017 ). J.Agric. Food Chem.

24. Table 1: Comparison of nanotechnology-based formulations and conventional fertilizers
applications
Properties Nano-fertilizer-enabled
technologies
Conventional technology
Solubility and Nano-sized
formulation of mineral
micronutrients
Improve solubility and dispersion
of insoluble nutrients in soil
reduce soil absorption and fixation
and increase the bioavailability
Less bioavailability to plants due
to particle size and less solubility
Nutrient-uptake efficiency Increase fertilizer efficiency and
uptake ratio of the soil nutrients in
crop production and save fertilizer
Bulk composite is not available for
root resources and decrease
efficiency
Controlled release modes Both release rate and release
pattern of nutrients for water
soluble fertilizers might be
precisely controlled
Excess release of fertilizers may
produce toxicity and destroy
ecological balance of soil
Effective duration of nutrient
release
Extend effective duration of
nutrient of fertilizer into the soil
Used by the plants at the time of
delivery, the rest is converted into
insoluble salts in the soil
Loss rate of fertilizer nutrients Reduce loss rate of fertilizer into
soil by leaching
High loss rate by leaching, run off,
and drift
Source: Solanki et al. 2015 Nanotechnologies in Food and Agriculture, Cha. 4: 81-101

25. Types of Nano-fertilizers
A. Macronutrient Nano-fertilizers
Macronutrient nano-fertilizers are chemically composed of one or more
macronutrient elements such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K),
magnesium (Mg), and calcium (Ca), thus being able to supply one or more of
these essential elements to plants.
B. Micronutrient Nano-fertilizers
Micronutrient nano-fertilizers are chemically composed of one or more
micronutrient elements in Nano form such as zinc (Zn) iron (Fe), copper (
Cu) silicon (Si), nickel (Ni) etc.
Most commonly used Nano-fertilizers are:
a. Zeolite based Nano-fertilizers
b. Chitosan based Nano-fertilizers

26. a. Zeolite based Nano-fertilizers
 Zeolites are natural aluminosilicates present in rocks of different part of the
world.
 Zeolites are composed of pores and corner sharing aluminosilicate (AlO4 and
SiO4) tetrahedrons, joined into three dimensional frameworks.
 Zeolites are useful in agriculture because of their large porosity and high CEC
 They can be used both as carriers of nutrients and as a medium to free nutrients.
Fig- 9 Structure of zeolite
Source: www.researchgate.net

27. b. Chitosan based Nano-fertilizers
 Chitosan is a polysaccharide derived from chitin, which may be obtained from
crustaceans.
 Chitosan nanoparticles have been investigated as a carrier for active ingredient
delivery for various applications owing to their
-biocompatibility,
-biodegradability,
-high permeability,
-cost-effectiveness,
-non-toxicity and
- excellent film forming ability.
Fig-10 TEM microphotograph obtained for chitosan nanoparticles
(Hasaneen et al. 2014)

29. Fig- 11 Applications of Nano-fertlizer mediated Agriculture over other Agriculture Systems
Source: sciencedirect.com

31. Table 2 : Effect of nano-materials on nutrient use efficiency of wheat under different
fertilizer doses
RDF: 150:60:40 kg NPK/ha NM: 3 kg/ha (NM of gypsum and nanofertilizers)
Source: Kumar et al.,2014
Treatment
Recovery efficiency (%) Agronomic efficiency
(kg grain/ kg nutrient
applied)
N P K N P K
50 % RDF 88.3 32.3 340.5 0.33 0.83 1.25
100 % RDF 61.6 22.8 218.0 0.22 0.55 0.83
50 % RDF + NM 104.8 43.3 380.5 0.49 0.97 1.45
100 % RDF + NM 42.5 22.7 153.0 0.19 0.47 0.70

32. Table 3 : Effect of chemical and nano-fertilizers on number of reproductive tillers,
number of panicles, number of grains and total weight of grain in rice.
Source: Jyothi et al., (2017 ). Agricultural Reviews 38 (2); 112-120
Treatment Number of
reproductive
tiller
Number
of
panicles
Total number
of grains /
plant
Total grain weight
gm / plants
Unpolished Polished
Control
4 4 235 6.27 4.62
FRR-CF 30 30 3213 75.92 51.36
HRR-CF 22 22 2424 60.94 42.44
FRR-NF 4 4 332 8.56 6.22
HRR-NF 4 4 297 7.69 5.85
FRR-CF + FRR-NF 33 33 3799 92.07 64.78
FRR-CF + HRRNF 29 29 3266 76.67 52.62
HRR-CF + FRR-NF 22 22 2455 59.26 40.84
HRR-CF + HRR-NF 18 19 2069 51.65 35.84

33. Table 4 : Moisture content of soil after application of nano fertilizer at
different incubation days
Source: Rajonee et al., (2017). Advancs in Nano-particles 6; 62-74
Incubation
Days
Moisture Content
Control Conventional
fertilizer
Nano fetilizer
P-nf K-nf
0 20.82 20.70 20.72 20.85
15 21.56 27.58 30.49 31.2
30 13.22 23.53 25.10 25.62

34. Table 5 : Available phosphorous of soil after nano fertilizer applications at
different incubation days.
Source : Rajonee et al., (2017). Advancs in Nano-particles 6; 62-74
Incubation Days
Available phosphorous (mg/kg)
Control Conventional
fertilizer
Nano
fetilizer
P-nf
0 10 30 60
15 6 8 30
30 4 6 20

35. Fig: 12 Percent release of phosphorus by conventional and nano-fertilizer at
different incubation days.
Source : Rajonee et al., (2017). Advancs in Nano-particles 6; 62-74
P % released

36. Fig: 13 Comparison of P Use Efficiency
Source: Taradar et al., 2016
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
SSP KH2PO4 Nano-P
P use efficiency

37. Table 6 : Available potassium of soil after nano fertilizer applications at
different incubation days.
Source: Rajonee et al., (2017). Advancs in Nano-particles 6; 62-74.
Incubation
Days
Available potassium (mg/kg)
Control Conventional
fertilizer
Nano
fertilizer
K-nf
0 0.19 1.06 1.51
15 0.12 0.82 1.33
30 0.09 0.48 0.70

38. Fig:14 Percent release of potassium by conventional and nano fertilizer at
different incubation days.
Source: Rajonee et al., (2017). Advancs in Nano-particles 6; 62-74
K%release

39. Fig:15 Nitrogen use efficiency (%) of conventional and nano-fertilizers as maize
is model crop.
Source: Subramanian et al., (2011). IJAS 81(10); 887-893
N-useefficiency

40. Fig-16 Comparison of the leaching performance of LCF (LCN and LCU) With
traditional fertilizer (NH4Cl and Urea) in soil column.
(Source: Steve Suppan, 2017: iatp.org)

41. Fig- 17 Comparison of NH3 volatilization performance of LCF (LCN and LCU) With
traditional fertilizer (NH4Cl and Urea) from soil pool.
(Source: Steve Suppan, 2017: iatp.org)

42. Table 7: Effect of zeolite based N fertilizers on maize yield and quality parameters
(Souce : Manikandan et al., (2016 ) IJPSS 9(4); 1-9
Treatments Inceptisol Alfisols
Grain
yield/plant
(g)
100
grain
wt(g)
Crude
protein
(%)
Grain
yield/plant
(g)
100
grain
wt(g)
Crude
protein
(%)
T1- Urea 268 27.8 3.62 156 25.8 3.00
T2-Zeolite
+Urea
232 28.2 3.32 203 25.4 3.25
T3- Nanozeolite
+ Urea
238 28.0 3.85 133 25.7 3.22
T4- Zeourea 295 29.3 3.90 173 27.1 3.70
T5-Nanozeourea 291 29.8 4.90 254 29.4 4.70
S.E 23.01 1.11 0.28 27.59 1.27 0.41
CD (0.05) 47.00 NS 0.57 56.36 2.60 0.83

43. Table 8 : Agronomic parameter, biomass yield, P content and uptake of maize
as affected by the application of different RP fertilizers.
Source: Adhikari et al., (2014) J. of Agric. Sci. Tech. A 4: 384-394.
Treatments Biomass yield
(t/ha)
Harvest
index
Shelling
(%)
1,000
grain
weight
(g)
P content (%) P uptake
(kg/ha)
Grain Stover Grain Stover Grain Stover
Control 2.38 4.11 36.67 47.07 179.3 0.332 0.228 7.90 9.37
NK (100%) 3.76 6.30 37.38 59.93 214.8 0.416 0.193 15.64 12.18
NPK (100%) 5.50 7.41 42.60 62.58 235.8 0.426 0.227 23.43 16.86
NK (100%) + 60
kg P2O5 as nano
RP (Udaipur 31%
P2O5)
4.95 7.04 41.38 60.91 225.0 0.377 0.224 18.66 15.76
NK (100%) + 60
kg P2O5 as nano
RP (Udaipur 34%
P2O5)
5.44 7.13 43.28 61.47 230.3 0.408 0.226 22.19 16.11
CD (P = 0.05) 0.57 0.96 4.21 5.28 19.58 0.04 NS 1.92 1.71

44. Table 9: N and K uptake of maize as affected by the application of different rock
phosphate fertilizers.
Source: Adhikari et al., (2014) J. of Agric. Sci. Tech. A 4: 384-394
Treatments N content (%) K content (%) Nluptake (kg/ha) Kluptake (kg/ha)
Grain Stover Grain Stover Grain Stover Total Grain Stover Total
Control 1.19 0.61 2.08 1.12 28.32 25.07 53.39 49.50 46.03 95.33
NK(100%) 1.23 0.60 2.21 1.16 46.25 37.80 84.05 83.09 73.08 156.17
NPK (100%) 1.29 0.68 2.32 1.26 70.95 50.38 121.33 127.60 93.36 220.96
NK (100%) +
60 kg P2O5 as
nano-RP
(Udaipur 31%
P2O5)
1.23 0.62 2.23 1.15 58.42 42.16 100.58 105.92 78.20 184.12
NK (100%) +
60 kg P2O5 as
nano-RP
(Udaipur 34%
P2O5)
1.25 0.61 2.20 1.20 68.00 43.49 111.49 119.68 85.56 205.24
CD (P = 0.05) NS NS 0.14 NS 6.59 6.11 12.49 15.95 13.01 22.92

45. Table 10: Basic growth parameters and crop yield of nanometal-treated soybean.
[nanometal dose was 0.08 g/ha by seed treatment]
(Source: Buu et al., (2013). Proceedings of IWNA 14-16
SDMPs Control Cu Fe Co
G.P.
Leaf Chlorophyll
content (mg/100g)
27.0 29.1 31.7 29.6
Number of
nodules/root
13.1 19.7 12.9 16.8
Number of
pods/plant
76.2 81.1 63.6 89.1
Pods weight (g/plant) 63.7 57.0 52.1 72.1
Weight of 1000
grains (g
162.2 169.2 162.2 166.0
Crop yield (ton/ha) 2.33 2.59 1.95 2.71

46. Fig: 18 Comparison of Zn and Fe use efficiency
ZnandFeuseefficiency
Doses of nano-Zn application 160 mg/ha and nano-Fe 480 mg/ha
(Source: Tarafdar et al., 2016)

47. Table 11: Effect of zinc nano-fertilizer on biometric parameters of pearl millet
under field condition at 6 week crop age
Source: Tarafdar et al., (2014). Agric. Res.
Treatments Shoot length
(cm)
Root length
(cm)
Root area (cm2)
Control 152 58.6 60.1
Ordinary Zn 158 60.9 63.8
Nano Zn 175 61.1 74.7
LSD (p = 0.05) 0.58 0.14 0.17

48. Table 12: Effect of zinc nano-fertilizer on grain yield, dry biomass, and
zinc conc. of pearl millet under field condition at crop maturation.
Source: Tarafdar et al., (2014). Agric. Res.
Treatments Grain yield (kg
ha-1)
Dry biomass (kg
ha-1)
Zn conc. (mg
kg-1)
Control 1065 5192 35.5
Ordinary
Zn
1217 5214 39.8
Nano Zn 1467 5841 39.2
CV 48 142 3.1
LSD
(p=0.05)
17.6 52.2 1.1

49. Table13: Enzymes activity in rhizosphere of 6 weeks old pearl millet plant
Source: Tarafdar et al., (2014 ). Agric. Res.
Treatments Acid
phosphatase
(EU×10-4)
Alkaline
phosphatase
(EU×10-4)
Phytase
(EU×10-2)
Dehydrogenase
(Pkat g-1)
Control 9.1 4.7 0.9 5.7
Ordinary Zn 14.1 6.2 2.2 6.3
Nano Zn 16.1 7.6 3.8 6.9
LSD (p =
0.05)
1.4 0.8 0.5 0.3

50. Beneficial Enzymes Percent (%) increase in
activity
Dehydrogenase 25-68
Esterase 23-90
Acid phosphotase 21-72
Alkaline phosphotase 18-136
Phytase 23-83
Nitrate reductase 12-47
Aryl sulphatase 19-68
Cellulase 48-243
Hemi-cellulase 37-115
Table 14: Increase in activity of beneficial enzymes with nano-nutrients
application
Source: Tarafdar et al., 2016

51. Table 15: Nano-fertilizers: Applications, Opportunities and Practical Challenges
Source: Iavicoli et al., (2017 ). Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 329 : 96–11
Nano-fertilizers in Agriculture
Applications Opportunities Practical challenges
Macronutrient nano-fertilizers
Micronutrient nano-fertilizers
Nutrient loaded nano-
fertilizers i.e. nutrient
augmented zeolites
Plant growth enhancers, i.e.
TiO2-NPs CNTs
Targeted and controlled
nutrient release
Increase nutrient availability
and plant uptake efficiency
Increase enzymatic activity
Reduce adverse impact of
conventional compounds
Nanomaterial phytotoxicity
Variability and reactivity of
nanomaterials in the
environment
Possible adverse effects for
exposed workers under real
application conditions

52. Table 16: Research needs for nano-fertilizers
Source: Lal et al.,(2017).
Nano-fertilizer
type
Importance in
food security and
sustainable
agriculture
Research direction Other important research items
Macronutrient Very important N and P fertilizers with high
fertilizing capacity, high
efficiency, low leaching rate,
and low risks of environmental
contamination
Micronutrient Not important High efficiency at extreme soil
pH, or in soils with low
organic matter content, or
coarse texture
To compare with regular
fertilizers in plant growth/yield
enhancements
NP carriers Important Increasing N and P use
efficiency & decreasing
nutrient leaching
To present nanotoxicity study
of any new type of nano-
fertilizers
Plant growth
simulating NPs
Important More evidence and
mechanism clarification

53. “We have to launch vertical mission under an umbrella
organization with the public-private investment in atleast 10
nanotechnology products in water, energy, agriculture,
healthcare, space, defence sectors. Encourage the youth to take
up the challenge in these mission with international
collaborations.”
Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam address to Scientists and technologists
during April 2005 at New Delhi.
"I am concerned about the state of the fertilizer industry
itself. With the price of energy increasing, we need to find
cheaper, more effective ways to nourish food crops, the
fertilizer industry needs to do everything in its power to
minimize that cost. Farmers are paying way too much for
fertilizer products because much of the nutrients in applied
fertilizers are never used by the crop. Nutrient losses to the
environment are high with consequences for global warming
and water pollution”.
Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug has given the call for
new kinds of fertilizers

54. Conclusion:
 Nano-fertilizers have potential to increase crop productivity through slow or controlled
delivery.
 Due to their small size and target specificity, nanofertilizers increase the nutrient use
efficiency.
 Utilization of nano-RP will help in reducing the quantity of fertilizer application and
saving the input cost of farmers.
 P-nf and K-nf applied soil have steeper realising pattern of P and K respectively although
at last i.e. at 30 days both P and K are more available in nanofertilizer applied field than
the conventional fertilizers applied field.
 The Zeourea and nano-zeourea contained 18.5% and 28% N and capable of releasing N
up to 34 and 48 days respectively, while N realease from conventional urea is just for 4
days.
 The growth, yield, quality and nutrient uptake were consistently higher for nano-zeourea
treatment than conventional urea.

55.  Ion exchange capacity properties of zeolites are recognised as important for plant
nutrition due to their high cation exchange capacity and porosity.
 Chitosan is a polysaccharide having film-forming ability gelatinous characteristics and
bio-adhesion which has potential of control the releasing pattern of nutrients.
 Zn-nanofertilizer enhances enzyme activity which help in the mobilization of native
phosphorous existing in rhizosphere in the complex form.
 Utilization of Zn-nanoparticles as Zn-nanofertilizer is low cost, green eco-friendly
approach to enhance crop production.
 Nano-fertilizers increase the efficiency and the uptake by the plant and may also protect
soil quality by decreasing toxic effects associated with over application.

56. Thank You…,