Future Trends and Challenges in Agricultural Nanotechnology
摘要
Nanotechnology, a rapidly rising field, has laid its footprint in a multitude of sectors including textiles, electronics, healthcare, environment remediation, biomaterials and agriculture, influencing everyday life. It has shown promising results in the agricultural sector through the application of nano fertilizers, nano pesticides, and nano sensors. Agricultural nanotechnology provides innovative approaches to tackle the issue of increased food demand due to the rising population while consuming minimum resources. It has enormous potential to impact agriculture by increasing soil quality, controlling nutrients, monitoring pesticide use, and water quality. It also contributes to sustainable development by improving resource management and soil fertility. This chapter provides an overview of the recent advances and future trends in nanotechnological applications in agriculture. Advancements in nanotechnology such as nano priming, nano aptamers, nanocarriers for gene delivery, and integration with other platforms have the capability to completely transform farming and agriculture. Despite its many advantages, agricultural nanotechnology also has a number of drawbacks. Therefore, this chapter also focuses on the various challenges and constraints pertaining to the application of nanomaterials in agriculture. The long-term environmental fate of nanoparticles is poorly understood which necessitates further research to assess their ecological risk. Regulatory guidelines and safety standards are being increasingly implemented. Public attitude and perception of the usage of nanomaterials in agriculture is another element that needs to be taken into consideration.