Abstract

AbstractNatural agricultural production is an open system, both energy and matters are exchanged freely in this system involving interactions of geosphere (especially pedosphere), biosphere, and atmosphere. Agriculture provides crops for food and industry, fiber, fuel, auto-fuel and drugs. On one hand it faces ever escalating food prices and farmer’s suicides, and on the other hand input use efficiency is low. Present agricultural practices have made harvests toxic, mother’s milk a poison, and breathing-air venom. In this background, nanotechnology brings new hope. Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary venture-field that converge science, engineering, and agriculture and food systems into one. The Environmental Protection Agency of the US has defined nanotechnology as the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1-100 nm, where unique physical properties make novel applications possible. The triple problems of agriculture – over-dependence on supplementary irrigation, vulnerability to climate, and poor input and energy conversion to products – can be solved by using nanotechnology, provided agricultural scientists seek a chance to try and cooperate with scientists of kindred disciplines. Nanotechnology is new to agriculture; a ventured field of less than a decade old. But, already success has been achieved for manufacturing nano-pesticides and nano-fertilizer, in disease elimination in poultry, in food packaging, use of agricultural waste, nanosensors, precision agricultural practices, and in livestock and fisheries. Nanotechnology holds the potential to revolutionize agriculture and food systems in the areas of nano-fertilizers, pesticide career, microfluidics, BioMEMS, nucleic acid bioengineering, smart treatment delivery systems, nanobioprocessing, bioanalytical nanosensors, nanomaterials, bioselective surfaces, environmental processing, pathogen detection, plant/animal production, biosecurity, molecular and cellular biology, protection of the environment through the reduction and conversion of agricultural materials into valuable products, design and development of new nanocatalysts to convert vegetable oils into biobased fuels and biodegradable industrial solvents, and in controlled ecological life support system, to name a few.

Highlights

  • A Tribute “All things do not scale down in proportion” ­ Richard Feynmann "The best way to predict the future is to invent it" ­ Alan Kay

  • An increase in human population by an additional three billion by the middle of the 21st century, most of which is expected to occur in the developing countries;

  • The origins of nanoscience can be traced to clay mineralogy and crystallography (Lower et al, 2001) when it was discovered that clay minerals were crystalline and of micrometer size

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Summary

This is the birthplace of ancient agriculture and modern green revolution

Here. harvests have turned toxic, mother’s milk a poison, and breathing­air venom. Boundaries for the biophysical processes that determine the Earth's capacity for self­regulation. Harvests have turned toxic, mother’s milk a poison, and breathing­air venom. In the birthplace of ancient agriculture and modern green revolution of north­ west India, harvests have turned toxic, mother’s milk a poison, and breathing­air venom. An increase in human population by an additional three billion by the middle of the 21st century, most of which is expected to occur in the developing countries;. An increase in food demand, especially in developing countries that are home to 850 million food-insecure people (Borlaug, 2007), and where the scarce natural resources (per capita land area and water) are already under great stress; and. An increase in the extent and severity of the human-induced soil degradation (1.94 billion ha globally and increasing at the rate of 5–10 million ha annually) (Oldeman, 1994). Defining nanotechnology is a new interdisciplinary venture­field that converge science, engineering, and agriculture and food systems into one – Dr APJ Abdul­Kalam understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1­100 nm, where unique physical properties make novel applications possible (EPA, 2007)

Origin of NS
Food packaging Use of agricultural waste Nanosensors
Bayer Cornell univ

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