Current and emerging nanotechnology for sustainable development of agriculture: Implementation design strategy and application

Abstract

Recently, agriculture systems have faced numerous challenges involving sustainable nutrient use efficiency and feeding, environmental pollution especially heavy metals (HMs), infection of harmful microorganisms, and maintenance of crop production quality during postharvesting and packaging. Nanotechnology and nanomaterials have emerged as powerful tools in agriculture applications that provide alternatives or support traditional methods. This review aims to address and highlight the current overarching issue and various implementation strategies of nanotechnology for sustainable agriculture development. In particular, the current progress of different nano-fertilizers (NFs) systems was analyzed to show their advances in enhancing the uptake and translocations in plants and improving nutrient bioavailability in soil. Also, the design strategy and application of nanotechnology for rapid detection of HMs and pathogenic diseases in plant crops were emphasized. The engineered nanomaterials have great potential for biosensors with high sensitivity and selectivity, high signal throughput, and reproducibility through various detection approaches such as Raman, colorimetric, biological, chemical, and electrical sensors. We obtain that the development of microfluidic and lab-on-a-chip (LoC) technologies offers the opportunity to create on-site portable and smart biodevices and chips for real-time monitoring of plant diseases. The last part of this work is a brief introduction to trends in nanotechnology for harvesting and packaging to provide insights into the overall applications of nanotechnology for crop production quality. This review provides the current advent of nanotechnology in agriculture, which is essential for further studies examining novel applications for sustainable agriculture.

Keywords: Anti-microbial nanomaterials; Heavy metals; Nano-fertilizers; Plant disease; Sustainable agriculture.

Fig. 1

Implications of nanotechnology for agricultural applications.

Fig. 2

(A) The uptake of NFs through various channels and their translocation pathways in different parts of a plant, including the NFs traits, translocation mechanism, and strategy (A). Reprinted from Ref. [25], Copyright 2022 MDPI. (B) The schematic of encapsulation process of Fe and B-based NFs and their vesicle application in plant cell. The FESEM-X-EDS and element mapping images indicate Fe and B distribution after foliar application. Reprinted from Ref. [34], Copyright 2020 RSC Publishing.

Fig. 3

(A) The schematic of plant-based green synthesis of nanoparticles and its application as NFs. Reprinted from Ref. [40], Copyright 2022 Springer Nature. (B) Biogenetically fabrication of CuO and ZnO NPs using soil bacterium, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and their evaluation in the growth of Amaranthus hybridus in a hydroponics system. Reprinted from Ref. [42], Copyright 2022 MDPI. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Fig. 4

(A) Schematic of the role of Si in plant cells to enhance plant resistance through physical barrier formation. Reprinted from Ref. [51], Copyright 2017 Frontiers. (B) Large-scale fabrication of SiNPs (16–37 nm in size) from silica sands using sol-gel methods and their evaluation in maize plants. Reprinted from Ref. [56], Copyright 2022 ACS. (C) SiNPs stimulate the immunity of rice plants to resistance to biotic and abiotic stress. (a, b) Symptomatic disease response of rice at different SiNPs concentration treatments via foliar treatment and root treatment, respectively. (c, d) TEM image of SiNPs distribution in rice leaves through foliar treatment of 100 mg/L and 3000 mg/L respectively. Reprinted from Ref. [57], Copyright 2022 Springer Nature.

Fig. 5

(A) Schematic of pathways and mechanisms that HMs toxicity in soil and plant. Reprinted from Ref. [61], Copyright 2021 MDPI. (B) Colorimetric detection of Tl(I) and Pd(II) ions by AgNPs, AuNPs, and FLA-AuNPs based colorimetric detection. (a) Schematic illustration of the nanosensing systems, (b) The behavior of color change of AgNPs-based sensing under concentration series of metal ions, (c) The behavior of color change of AuNPs-based sensing under concentration series of metal ions, and (d) behaviors of FLA (AgNPs base) for Tl(I) ions detection from 0 to 120 μM. Reprinted from Ref. [66], Copyright 2023 RSC. (C) Applications of SERS in agriculture. Reprinted from Ref. [71] (which has been adapted from Refs. [[85], [86], [87], [88], [89], [90]], Copyright 2022 Elsevier. (D) Schematic illustrations of paper-based electrochemical devices for HMs sensing. Reprinted from Ref. [84], Copyright 2021 ACS Publications. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Fig. 6

Application of nanomaterials for remediation of the environment. Reprinted from Ref. [91], Copyright 2021 Frontier.

Fig. 7

(A) Scheme of nanomaterials based sensor for plant disease diagnostics. Reprinted from Ref. [100], Copyright 2022 Elsevier. (B) Scheme of design strategy of AuNPs in disposable microfluidic electrochemical device for ultrasensitive immunoassay detection of CTV and SEM images of AuNPs distributed on the electrode surface. Reprinted from Ref. [126], Copyright 2019 Elsevier.

Fig. 8

(A) The use of AgNPs as foliar spray to defend leaf curl diseases in chili (Capsicum annuum) and leaf spot disease in okra (Abelmoschus esculentus). (a,b) The SEM and TEM images of as-prepared AgNPs with an average size of 28 nm. (c,d) treated and untreated of AgNPs in chili leaf curl. (e,f) treated and untreated of AgNPs in okra leaf spot disease. Reprinted from Ref. [128], Copyright 2022 Springer Nature. (B) AgNPs for preventing and curing of bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV) in faba bean. Digital images of a healthy faba bean plant, infected one, and treated with different concentrations of AgNPs. Reprinted from Ref. [129], Copyright 2021 Springer Nature. (C) Nano chitosan for management of potato and tomato bacteria wilt diseases. Symptomatic response the efficacy of chitosan nanoparticles on (a) heavy control, (b) infected control, (c,d) spraying and soil amended, respectively, of chitosan nanoparticles 100 μg/mL, (e,f) spraying and soil amended, respectively, of chitosan nanoparticles 200 μg/mL. The TEM images of morphology and structure of Ralstonia solanacearum (g) un-treated and (h, i, j) 2 days after being treated with chitosan nanoparticles. The bacterial cell and flagella were destructed and lysis by the role of the nanomaterials. Reprinted from Ref. [131], Copyright 2022 Elsevier. (D) Nano chitosan against X. campestris infected in chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). Leaves of four chili pepper cultivars Bianca, Kiyo, Lado, and Tanamo after 12 days after inoculation with X. campestris and treatment with synthetic bactericide and nano chitosan. Reprinted from Ref. [132], Copyright 2020 Agrivita. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)