EFFECTS OF NANOFERTILIZERS ON PLANT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND THEIR INTERRELATIONSHIP WITH THE ENVIRONMENT - Fertilizers: Components, Uses in Agriculture and Environmental Impacts - page 211

Chapter 9

E FFECTS OF N ANOFERTILIZERS
ON P LANT G ROWTH AND D EVELOPMENT ,
AND T HEIR I NTERRELATIONSHIP
WITH THE E NVIRONMENT

Fabián Fernández-Luqueño 1,  , Fernando López-Valdez 2 ,
María Fernanda Valerio-Rodríguez 1 , Nicolaza Pariona 1 ,
Juan Luís Hernández-López 1 , Ireneo García-Ortíz 1 ,
Javier López-Baltazar 3 , María Cristina Vega-Sánchez 4 ,
Roberto Espinoza-Zapata 4 and Jorge Alberto Acosta-Gallegos 5
1 Sustainability of Natural Resources and Energy Program,
Cinvestav-Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico
2 Research Centre for Applied Biotechnology - Instituto Politécnico Nacional,
Tepetitla de Lardizábal, Tlaxcala, Mexico
3 Instituto Tecnológico del Valle de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
4 Plant Breeding Department, UAAAN, Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico
5 Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales,
Agrícolas & Pecuarias, INIFAP Guanajuato Celaya, Mexico

A BSTRACT

Bionanotechnology, which represents all facets of research with regard to the
interactions of biology and nanoparticles, has firmly established itself as one of the
principle and focused subdisciplines within nanotechnology. Fertilizer, which is a key
nutrient source for food, biomass, and fiber production in agriculture, is by far the most
important source of nutritional elements and molecules. At the same time, however,
nutrient recovery by crops remains relatively low (e.g., about 50% for N). Since a