Nano Zinc Oxide Boosting Growth and Yield in Tomato: The Rise of “Nano Fertilizer Era”

Abstract

Globally, the soils are Zinc (Zn) deficient and plan ts are not in a position to accumulate enough Zn in edible parts that can meet the human nutrition requirement . Nanotechnology is one of the most important tools in modern agriculture. Nano agriculture involves the use of n a o sized particles with unique properties (increas d uptake by plants as they are small in size and have a high rate of p enetration through plant cell membrane) to boost cr op productivity. In the present study, an attempt was made to study the effect of nano zinc oxide particle (ZnO NPs) for im proving yield and Zn content in tomato plant. Initially, seed priming concentration was standardized in vitro using ZnO NPs (400ppm) and granular zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) (800ppm). Further, standardized seed priming conc e trations with different combinations of treatment such as seed priming, seed priming+ fo liar spray and flour spray was studied under field condition to evaluate their effect on biomass and Zn accumulation The obtained results based on the physiological and yield parameters showed that the usage of ZnO NPs fertilize rs through any of the methods of application has a significant positive effect, compared to zinc sulphate. ICP-OES analysis of plant digested material revealed that the uptake of ZnO NPs is higher than the granular ZnSO 4. The present study addresses the potential of nano scale particles of plant system, opening an avenue for its potential use as future “ nano fertilizers”. This nanotechnology is one of the t chnologies where, a lot of scope exists to improve the plant n u rition.