Practice better farming through nanotechnology

Advanced technologies enable the controlled release of medicine to specific cells in the body. Scientists argue those same technologies must be applied to agriculture if growers are to meet increasing global food demands.

In a new Nature journal review paper, scientists from the University of California Riverside and Carnegie Mellon University highlight some of the best-known strategies for improving agriculture with nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology is an umbrella term for the study and design of microscopically small things. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, or about 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Using nanotechnology, drugs can now be delivered where they’re most needed. But those insights have yet to be applied to plant science on a large scale.

“There are studies predicting we will need to increase food production by up to 60 percent in 2050 relative to 2020 levels. Right now, we are trying to do that through inefficient agrochemical delivery,” said Juan Pablo Giraldo, University of California Riverside associate professor and paper co-corresponding author.

“Half of all the fertilizer applied on farms is lost in the environment and pollutes the groundwater. In the case of commonly used pesticides, it’s even worse. Only five percent reach their intended targets. The rest ends up contaminating the environment. There is a lot of room for improvement,” Giraldo said.

Currently agriculture accounts for as much as 28 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. That, in addition to a range of other factors from extreme weather events to rampant crop pests and rapidly degrading soil, underlines the need for new agricultural practices and technologies.