Recent advances in nanotechnology for the improvement of conventional agricultural systems: A review

Agriculture provides food and raw materials for the construction, energy, textile and pharmaceutical industries. Recently, agriculture is facing several concerns including climate change, soil degradation, decreasing land holding, urbanization, unsustainable use of natural resources, excessive use of agrochemicals, biodiversity loss, air pollution etc. are some of alarming issues which demand immediate interventions. Conventional agricultural practices could not handle these challenges as they are complex, labour intensive, time-consuming, less efficient, large requirements of crop nutrients and non-targeted. Furthermore, the inefficient use of agrochemicals poses a serious threat to the ecosystem. Therefore, scientists, farmers and policymakers are constantly searching for new techniques to combat existing challenges. Nanotechnology is emerging as the new savior of sustainable agriculture. Besides precision farming, nanosensors have been employed for the detection of crop pathogens and chemically harmful analytes in agri-fields. Moreover, nanorobotics and nano-barcodes have also shown a profound impact on agriculture practices to enhance the yield of agriculture. Further, tremendous applications of nanotools in agriculture are extensively implicated in bioimaging, sensing, photocatalysis and agrochemicals delivery. This review comprehensively discusses diverse tremendous applications of nanotechnology in overcoming the challenges of conventional agronomic practices and future prospects of nanotechnology in agriculture.