Use of nanotechnology in agriculture for food security

Climate change is threatening to seriously disrupt agricultural production due to global heat waves, fires, droughts and flash floods. The global shock of Corona has intensified this fear. Scientists urge to increase crop production by 70 per cent by 2050 to ensure food supply for all people in line with population growth. Addressing new challenges in agriculture necessitates the use of new and more effective technologies to ensure demand-based safe food and nutrition security.

Agriculture is now technology dependent. Nanotechnology is a new topic in agriculture in Bangladesh. To make agriculture safe and profitable for the small and marginal farmers of the country, the agriculture-friendly government has adopted a policy of using biotechnology research and nanotechnology in the National Agricultural Policy 2018. Section 3.3.3 of the said policy on the implementation of nanotechnology has nicely outlined several activities which is very realistic and timely.

According to media reports, Dr. Ehsanul Kabir, Professor of the department of agricultural energy and machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University said that nanotechnology has emerged as an effective and promising strategy for increasing agricultural productivity and ensuring food security. He said that the fields of application of nanotechnology in agricultural development are quite wide and it is possible to make agriculture more sustainable and profitable by using it properly.

According to him, agricultural studies show that more than 50 percent of the chemical fertilizers and 98 percent of the pesticides used today are wasted in various non-target organisms and the environment. At present, three to four thousand liters of water is used to produce one kilogram of rice. The growing use of inefficient agricultural inputs at an abnormal rate is not only increasing the cost of crop production, but the extraction of underground water for irrigation and the use of large-scale chemicals are endangering the environment and the environment.

To counter these issues, now is the time to focus on research and application of nanotechnology on a priority basis for rational reasons to reduce the use of inputs in agricultural policy. But for this reason, we want to say what the future of agriculture will be based on long-term research and the needs of the country. However, he feels that research needs to be conducted in a coordinated manner as nanotechnology is expensive.

Various research reviews indicate that the significant areas of application of nanotechnology in future agriculture could be crop disease diagnosis, disease management, nano-pesticides, nano-fertilizers, nano-herbicides, preferential food packaging, soil pollution detection and remediation, crop improvement (breeding), This technology can be used to increase climate change tolerance in plants, improve irrigation efficiency, processing and storage and precision agriculture.

Let's talk about nano fertilizer among these. According to experts in nanotechnology, nano-fertilizers are termed as 'water releasers'. That is, if it is used in the crop field, it will accumulate at the base of the plant and will be able to provide nutrients to the plant as needed. There will be no waste. Similarly, the plant will also be able to take the right amount of food at the right time. It is a fertilizer in which many of the nutrients needed by the crop are mixed together in very small amounts and polymerized by compacting the ingredients.

As a result, durability increases. Being small in size, these particles can enter inside the seed through the small pores of the seed and provide the necessary food. As a result, production will increase significantly. In that case, if nano fertilizers are made and given to the farmers of the country like the developed countries of the world, a breakthrough in the agricultural sector will be achieved by increasing the overall production.

Nanotechnology is very small technology working at the atomic or molecular scale. Nanotechnology is abbreviated as Nanotech. 1 nanometer is one billionth of a meter. The technique of modifying and controlling matter at the molecular and atomic level is called nanotechnology. The concept of nano-fertilizers or pesticides in agriculture is like this, i.e. many uses in one. Nano-particles can effectively improve the efficacy and safe use of pesticides for crop protection.

Nano-fertilizers greatly improve fertilizer use efficiency through slow release or slow plant uptake and slow degradation. The use of nano-particles or the use of fertilizer components in nano-carriers can ensure improved crop growth and productivity. Nanotechnology devices and equipment, such as nano-capsules, nanoparticles, nano-robots and even virus nano-capsids, can be used in precise disease diagnosis and treatment, acceleration of plant nutrient uptake, site-specificity and improvement of water treatment processes.

However, earlier I mentioned above about the national agricultural policy on it. Three specific activities have been mentioned in the policy regarding the use of nanotechnology such as taking initiatives in the use of nanotechnology in the early stages of crop diseases, determination of nutrient requirements based on varieties and increasing nutrient absorption capacity.

In addition, undertake soil quality monitoring and production enhancement activities through the use of nano sensor technology; and taking initiatives to achieve material efficiency through innovation and use of nanotechnology fertilizers, pesticides including detection and treatment of presence of heavy metals in agriculture.

There are some challenges in the use of nanotechnology, which require integrated research to solve. There is a substantial need for research on the appropriate and safe use of new nanoparticles in agriculture. By strengthening the interaction of university research with research institutes and industry, nanotechnology can revolutionize agriculture, ensuring safe food production and nutritional security. I hope that the radical changes and improvements that are being achieved in agriculture with the touch of modern technology will continue in future agriculture as well.

The writer is Principal Scientific Officer, BARI. He can be contacted at [email protected]