Use of nanotechnology to increase nutrient use efficiency, enhance crop nutrition, and reduce agrochemical pollution

Nutrients (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) are obtained from the soil as part of the natural nutrient cycling process (through the decay of plant and animal matter) and are essential for plant growth and development. Limiting factors such as low availability of key nutrients put a damper on potential growth and reduce the nutritional value of the crop. The absence of key nutrients, which is increasingly occurring as a result of industrial agriculture and intensification of farming, leads to poor quality soils that are unable to supply the required nutrients, causing deficiencies in the plant, stunting their growth and, when sufficiently severe, triggering plant death. To resolve this, fertilizers are extensively used to supplement the soil’s nutritive value and ensure consistent crop growth and quality. Crop quality includes a range of different aspects of a food crop, including nutritional value, which are important to consumers. This chapter will discuss nutrient management and the history of fertilizer, agricultural pollution due to excessive fertilizer use, and potential nanotechnology solutions to improve the use of natural resources (nutrients, water, light) by plants to increase nutrient use efficiency and thus enhance productivity while reducing the negative environmental impacts of agriculture.