provides raw materials as human food as well as feed for
various industries (Srivastava et al. 2016). The constantly
growing human population with limited land, water, and soil
availability prompts the agricultural development to keep
pace with it and become increasingly more viable economically as well as efficient with time, but safe environmentally
for sure. This alteration in agriculture would also be vital for
bringing people back in the agricultural business, to opt them
out of poverty and hunger (for socio-economic improvement), which is prevalent in most parts of the developing
world (Mukhopadhyay 2014). In this regard, new and
innovative technology providing better agricultural production in cost- and time-effective manner is need of the hour,
and nanotechnology holds a great promise to fill up that
space and produce qualitatively and quantitatively better
food with lower cost, energy, and waste production in a
smart manner (Hossain et al. 2020; Marchiol et al. 2020).
In recent years, a diverse spectrum of potential applications of nanotechnology has been observed in the agriculture, prompting intensive researches across the globe (Chen
and Yada 2011; Dasgupta et al. 2015; Parisi et al. 2015).
Initially, the term nanotechnology was first coined by Professor Norio Tanaguchi in 1974 (Bulovic et al. 2004), for a
domain wherein unique changes in physicochemical properties of materials happen in their nano-size, in sharp contrast to their bulk counterpart (Burman and Kumar 2018).
However, it was Eric Drexler who formally introduced the
term nanotechnology in his book “Engines of Creation” to
the world. Nanotechnology holds a great promise in providing efficiency and economy to the system, particularly in
agro-ecosystems. This area of nano-size world (termed as
nano-science), with magical properties, evolved gradually,
but greatly in last decade, as can be observed by the growing
scientific publications and higher captured market size in
short time, which also enabled us today to develop
cutting-edge applications in most of the important
sectors/domains of human life, along with improved instrumental ability to synthesize and isolate engineered
nano-materials (ENMs), precisely (Gibney 2015).
Though, nanotechnology in material sciences and electronics has relatively higher dynamics, its potential use in
agriculture and food supply chain segment has evolved quite
recently. Many engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) have also
been synthesized in recent years for a large number of
nano-materials based products. Particularly in agriculture,
nano-materials are being specially tailored as nanopesticide,
nanofertilizer, and nano-biosensor for improving agriculture.
However, in-depth scientific studies are being done to
understand the impact of ENPs on plant growth, metabolism
and physiological processes, and agro-ecosystems
productivity/management in order to develop smart nanotechnology applications for revolutionizing agriculture to a
next level in a smart manner.
Products that are synthesized via nanotechnology using
specialized techniques are known as nano-materials (NMs).
It is estimated that over 800 nano-material products are
currently available in the market, worldwide. Generally,
NMs refer to colloidal particulates with size range lying
between 1 and 100 nm, in at least one of their dimension.
These NMs reveals size-dependent characteristics, including
large surface area/volume ratio and unique optical properties
specifically, which lies somewhere intermediate to individual molecule and bulk material. The main categories of NMs
include metal oxides, zero-valent metals, quantum dots,
carbonaceous, semiconductor, lipids, nanopolymer and
dendrimers featuring distinct and diverse characteristics.
Additionally, fullerenes and carbon nanotubes are defined as
most widely used organic NMs. The change in property of
NMs, in sharp contrast to their bulk counterparts and distinct
magnetic property in nano-size, owes to the alteration in
atoms and larger surface area (due to smaller size of NMs),
resulting in high reactivity (Burman and Kumar 2018). The
altered property of NMs is specifically related with the
change in electronic energy level, specifically due to the
alteration in surface area/volume ratio (Prasad et al. 2016).
Chemically synthesized nano-materials, being toxic and
mostly costly in nature, are now being synthesized alternatively from plant as well in a domain called green nanotechnology. The later is a safe process and is cost- and
energy-efficient, but with reduced waste (also because it is
mostly produced from waste) and greenhouse gaseous production (Prasad 2014). The recent shift toward the green
nanotechnology is at a faster pace, as it is environmentally
sustainable. In spite of this green transition, various issues
with NMs use in the agricultural field remain open ended,
which hopefully would resolve with scientific advancement
in the concerned field (Kandasamy and Prema 2015). Quite
recently, the biocompatibility, cost-effective synthesis, and
enhanced sensitivity to external stimuli have accentuated
interest of scientific communities in polymeric NMs, as
compared to chemically synthesized counterparts (Baskar
et al. 2018).
In modern agriculture, it is quite difficult task to produce
crops without pesticides, fertilizers, despite knowing the
potential hazardous implications these chemicals unleash
upon organisms, not intentioned to affect (including plants,
mesofauna, macrofauna, and soil microbiota), human health
and environment (Kah 2015; Abbas et al. 2019; Pérez‐
Hernández et al. 2020). Researches reveal that the primary
mechanism through which ENPs cause toxicity is reactive
oxygen species (ROS)-mediated oxidative stress, either via
physical direct damage or release of toxic ions after
nanoparticle dissolution process (Abbas et al. 2019). However, the impact of ENPs on soil microorganisms and plants
differs considerably depending upon NMs and soil used.
Moreover, the species of microorganism and plant used in
4
P. Srivastava et al.
various industries (Srivastava et al. 2016). The constantly
growing human population with limited land, water, and soil
availability prompts the agricultural development to keep
pace with it and become increasingly more viable economically as well as efficient with time, but safe environmentally
for sure. This alteration in agriculture would also be vital for
bringing people back in the agricultural business, to opt them
out of poverty and hunger (for socio-economic improvement), which is prevalent in most parts of the developing
world (Mukhopadhyay 2014). In this regard, new and
innovative technology providing better agricultural production in cost- and time-effective manner is need of the hour,
and nanotechnology holds a great promise to fill up that
space and produce qualitatively and quantitatively better
food with lower cost, energy, and waste production in a
smart manner (Hossain et al. 2020; Marchiol et al. 2020).
In recent years, a diverse spectrum of potential applications of nanotechnology has been observed in the agriculture, prompting intensive researches across the globe (Chen
and Yada 2011; Dasgupta et al. 2015; Parisi et al. 2015).
Initially, the term nanotechnology was first coined by Professor Norio Tanaguchi in 1974 (Bulovic et al. 2004), for a
domain wherein unique changes in physicochemical properties of materials happen in their nano-size, in sharp contrast to their bulk counterpart (Burman and Kumar 2018).
However, it was Eric Drexler who formally introduced the
term nanotechnology in his book “Engines of Creation” to
the world. Nanotechnology holds a great promise in providing efficiency and economy to the system, particularly in
agro-ecosystems. This area of nano-size world (termed as
nano-science), with magical properties, evolved gradually,
but greatly in last decade, as can be observed by the growing
scientific publications and higher captured market size in
short time, which also enabled us today to develop
cutting-edge applications in most of the important
sectors/domains of human life, along with improved instrumental ability to synthesize and isolate engineered
nano-materials (ENMs), precisely (Gibney 2015).
Though, nanotechnology in material sciences and electronics has relatively higher dynamics, its potential use in
agriculture and food supply chain segment has evolved quite
recently. Many engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) have also
been synthesized in recent years for a large number of
nano-materials based products. Particularly in agriculture,
nano-materials are being specially tailored as nanopesticide,
nanofertilizer, and nano-biosensor for improving agriculture.
However, in-depth scientific studies are being done to
understand the impact of ENPs on plant growth, metabolism
and physiological processes, and agro-ecosystems
productivity/management in order to develop smart nanotechnology applications for revolutionizing agriculture to a
next level in a smart manner.
Products that are synthesized via nanotechnology using
specialized techniques are known as nano-materials (NMs).
It is estimated that over 800 nano-material products are
currently available in the market, worldwide. Generally,
NMs refer to colloidal particulates with size range lying
between 1 and 100 nm, in at least one of their dimension.
These NMs reveals size-dependent characteristics, including
large surface area/volume ratio and unique optical properties
specifically, which lies somewhere intermediate to individual molecule and bulk material. The main categories of NMs
include metal oxides, zero-valent metals, quantum dots,
carbonaceous, semiconductor, lipids, nanopolymer and
dendrimers featuring distinct and diverse characteristics.
Additionally, fullerenes and carbon nanotubes are defined as
most widely used organic NMs. The change in property of
NMs, in sharp contrast to their bulk counterparts and distinct
magnetic property in nano-size, owes to the alteration in
atoms and larger surface area (due to smaller size of NMs),
resulting in high reactivity (Burman and Kumar 2018). The
altered property of NMs is specifically related with the
change in electronic energy level, specifically due to the
alteration in surface area/volume ratio (Prasad et al. 2016).
Chemically synthesized nano-materials, being toxic and
mostly costly in nature, are now being synthesized alternatively from plant as well in a domain called green nanotechnology. The later is a safe process and is cost- and
energy-efficient, but with reduced waste (also because it is
mostly produced from waste) and greenhouse gaseous production (Prasad 2014). The recent shift toward the green
nanotechnology is at a faster pace, as it is environmentally
sustainable. In spite of this green transition, various issues
with NMs use in the agricultural field remain open ended,
which hopefully would resolve with scientific advancement
in the concerned field (Kandasamy and Prema 2015). Quite
recently, the biocompatibility, cost-effective synthesis, and
enhanced sensitivity to external stimuli have accentuated
interest of scientific communities in polymeric NMs, as
compared to chemically synthesized counterparts (Baskar
et al. 2018).
In modern agriculture, it is quite difficult task to produce
crops without pesticides, fertilizers, despite knowing the
potential hazardous implications these chemicals unleash
upon organisms, not intentioned to affect (including plants,
mesofauna, macrofauna, and soil microbiota), human health
and environment (Kah 2015; Abbas et al. 2019; Pérez‐
Hernández et al. 2020). Researches reveal that the primary
mechanism through which ENPs cause toxicity is reactive
oxygen species (ROS)-mediated oxidative stress, either via
physical direct damage or release of toxic ions after
nanoparticle dissolution process (Abbas et al. 2019). However, the impact of ENPs on soil microorganisms and plants
differs considerably depending upon NMs and soil used.
Moreover, the species of microorganism and plant used in
4
P. Srivastava et al.