Nano-technology-Based Agriculture

Nanotechnology has gained intense attention in recent years due to its wide applications in several areas like medicine, medical drugs, catalysis, energy and materials. Those nanoparticles with small size to large surface area (1-100 nm) have potential medical, industrial and agricultural applications. Scientists have carried out significant efforts toward the synthesis of nanoparticles by different means, including physical, chemical and biological methods. These methods have many disadvantages due to the difficulty of scale-up of the process, separation and purification of nanoparticles from the micro-emulsion (oil, surfactant, co-surfactant and aqueous phase) and consuming large amount of surfactants. Green methods for synthesizing nanoparticles with plant extracts are advantageous as it is simple, convenient, eco-friendly and require less reaction time. Nanomaterials prepared by eco-friendly and green methods could increase agriculture potential for improving the fertilization process, plant growth regulators and pesticides.