Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
microorganisms are made to orient themselves on ridges, which is very similar to
the leaf surface. Fungi sense the topographical surface mimicking a particular char-
acteristic on leaf surface and this signals them to develop primary infection structure
and such information could help the breeders in near future to develop better plants
that makes them more resistant to fungal attack. Among the various plant diseases,
viral diseases are hard to control since the spread of diseases by vectors needs to be
prevented and disease symptoms appear only late, in which case, pesticide applica-
tion after the appearance of diseases has not been successful. So, detection of exact
stage of disease's viral DNA replication and viral protein production is important
for the control of viral diseases. Use of nano-based viral diagnostics could help in
the detection of exact viral strain and the stage of application of chemicals to control
viral diseases. Such nano-based diagnostic kits make detection at a faster pace and
also increase the power of detection.
6   Conclusion
One of the major factors limiting crop production and productivity is the incidence
of pests and diseases. Among various crop protection strategies, control and rem-
edies for plant diseases and pest attacks through nanotechnology has gained in-
creased attention. Nanoparticles could be used for delivery of suitable plant pro-
tecting chemicals and agrochemicals, which help in the control of various patho-
logical sufferings of plants. Site-targeted delivery of nanoparticles can be done to
avoid collateral damage to plant parts that might happen by various conventional
agrochemical application methods, and also to support environmental protection by
avoiding soil and water pollution. Nanoparticle-mediated plant genetic engineering
and use of nanosensors in agriculture are frontier areas to increase crop production
by avoiding pest and disease incidences, which will be a boon to farmers. Even
though nanotechnology application in food and agriculture is in its budding stage,
we can hope to see increasing uses of tools and techniques developed by nanotech-
nology in agricultural field in the next few years.
References
Barik TK, Sahu B, Swain V (2008) Nanosilica from medicine to pest control. Parasitol Res 103:253
Carmen IU, Chithra P, Huang Q, Takhistov P, Liu S, Kokini JL (2003) Nanotechnology: A new
frontier in food science. Food Technol 57:24-29
Caruthers SD, Wickline SA, Lanza GM (2007) Nanotechnological applications in medicine. Curr
Opin Biotechnol 18:26-30
Chao S-HL, Choi HS (2005) Method for providing enhanced photosynthesis. Korea research insti-
tute of chemical technology, Jeonju, South Korea. Bull 11:1-34
Feiner L-F (2006) Nanoelectronics: Crossing boundaries and borders, Nat Nanotechnol 1:91-92
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