Nano Fertilizers, Their Role and Uses in Crop Productivity. A Review

Abstract

Nano fertilizers (NFs) are an attractive alternative fertilizer in agriculture for improving growth parameters, yield, and quality of crops with increasing use efficiency of nutrients, minimizes fertilizers wastage and so the cultivation cost. The present paper aimed to supply an overview on the uses of nanofertilizers (NFs) in crops, highlighting their advantages and potential uses, and reviewing their effects under normal and environmental stress conditions. NFs are modified fertilizers which produced using nanotechnology by chemical, physical or biological methods to enhance their properties and composition, which positively affecting crop yields. Various studies have showed the benefits of using nanofertilizers instead of the conventional ones due to their highly specific surface area and smaller particles size which led to improving absorbent ability, controlled release kinetics and finally reaching to highest nutrient use efficiency, in addition to reducing the environmental pollution resources. Also, these nanometric fertilizers are superior to traditional fertilizers in the efficiency of their absorption (Nutrient Use Efficiency) and activation of the metabolic processes inside the plant due to the higher surface area of their molecules, use of less quantities with greater effectiveness and their supply to plants with their nutrients’ needs for longer periods comparing to the traditional forms and positively improve the biochemical content of crop and its quality. In this concern, NFs can release their nutrients during longer period (40-50 days), while in 4-10 days only, synthetic fertilizers do so. Otherwise, after field application, conventional fertilizers, especially urea, lose around fifty percent of its nitrogen content. In other words, research have shown that, NFs release nutrients 12 times more slowly comparing to synthetic fertilizers which reflecting on increasing the yields and quality characteristics of crops. In conclusion, nanofertilizers in the form of nano materials through slow or controlled release mechanisms could support their active nutrients depending on plant requirement’s and in the proper time, which finally reflects in improving the crops production.