Nano Steps towards Climate Smart Agriculture

Nanotechnology may work at a small scale, but the minuscule size of nanomaterials belies their efficiency. Its deceptively small size is no measure of its impact. Little wonder then that the technology is being increasingly applied in agriculture to enhance efficacy and, importantly, to shrink the adverse impact of conventional chemical fertilizers on the environment and health. The TERI-Deakin Nanobiotechnology Centre has been working to evolve ways of effectively using nanobiotechnology to provide sustainable agriculture solutions. In this ‘In Conversation’ section, Dr Pushplata Singh, Senior Fellow, Centre of Excellence in Agri-nanotechnology, TERI, talks to Palak Khanna from the Communications Team, TERI, about the incisive role the technology can play in the fields of agriculture and beyond.

- Palak Khanna

What is nanotechnology and what is the principle on which it works? 

Nanotechnology, as the name suggests, works at the nanoscale. The difference between a metre and a nanometre is 109. When the size of a material is reduced by such magnitude, there is a huge change at the surface-chemistry level, and the surface area-to-volume ratio increases significantly. The material becomes highly reactive when there is a gain in surface area over the volume. There are two important impacts of it; they become highly reactive and when used as crop macro or micronutrients, it increases the fertilizer uptake efficiency in plants by several folds. The other aspect is that their frequency of interaction with all biological surfaces increases, which influences safety to human health and the environment.

What are the nanotechnologies developed by TERI to help farmers with climate-smart farming techniques?

In TERI, we develop nanomaterials using a biogenic approach. Microbial organisms are tuned as bio-factories for converting bulk material into nanomaterials, which generally make all nanomaterials produced by TERI safe by design for human health and the environment. We are developing nanomaterials primarily for use in agriculture in the form of nano-fertilizers, nano-pesticides, and smart carriers. At the commercial level, TERI aims to launch some of the nanofertilizers in the second and the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal year 2023–24, and it will include nano-urea, nano-di-ammonium phosphate, and nano-phosphorus. At the research level, TERI is working towards fertilizers including nanoNPK, nano-sulphur, nanocomposite of zinc and iron, nano-boron, multiple nano-micronutrients; nano-pesticides including nano-copper and nano-sulphur; and nano-2,4 D as a weedicide.