Nanotechnology and Its Future Prospective for Sustainable Agriculture

Nanotechnology is essentially miniaturized technology which aims to advance the goals of science. Nanotechnology is working at nanoscopic level with the smallest possible particles which raise hopes for improvement in agriculture by solving various problems which remain unsolved conventionally. Crop improvement in agriculture is a continuous process in which development of different improved varieties to suite the growing needs are done through conventional breeding and biotechnological approaches. Nanobiotechnology is essentially miniaturized biotechnology which involves nanotechnology to advance the goals of biology. Recently scientists have started using nanotechnology to deliver the genes to specific sites at cellular levels and rearrange the atoms in the DNA of the same organism to achieve expression of desired character, bypassing time consuming process of gene transformation from the foreign organisms. In the environmentally controlled condition, agriculture and precision farming input requirement of crops are detected based on needs and fulfill requirement in right time at right place with the help of nano-biosensor system. In agriculture new molecular and cellular biology tools are expected to provide food quality, disease prevention and treatment in plants e.g. disease diagnosis, screening and treatment in farming practices involving vector, pest detection and control and disease monitoring. Some of the nano particles that have entered into the arena of controlling plant diseases are nano forms of carbon, silver, silica and alumino-silicates. Diagnosis of a disease in its very early stage can play important role in treatment. Nanoherbicides are being developed to address the problems in perennial weed management and exhausting weed seed bank. The current applications in agricultural sectors are relatively few because they are still emerging. However, a number of nanotechnology-driven products and applications in agricultural sectors have been increasing steadily in recent years and are predicted to grow in future.