Employing engineered nanoparticles to improve nutrient use efficiency

Abstract

With the increase in the global population, which is projected to be around 10 billion by 2050, fulfilling the rising food demand seems to be a major concern. This increase has prompted a soaring and heedless use of low-efficiency chemical fertilizers to obtain a higher yield. Nanofertilizers show a great deal of potential in eliminating the issues related to chemical fertilizers. The application of nanofertilizers has a crucial role in but is not limited to enhancing nutrient use efficiency and crop nutrition. The efficient use of nanofertilizers relieves the dramatic increase in cost to the farmer, minimizes the pollution hazard, and boosts the plant productivity. So, the application of nanofertilizers for smart, sustainable, and precision agriculture using a controlled and targeted delivery system becomes the need of the hour. All these aspects of nanofertilizers are discussed in this paper. The delivery system and its effect on plants are also addressed.