Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
with 87.68 kg N/ha to the crops. A protocol has also been developed to
coat the seeds of maize, soybean, pigeon pea and ladies finger with nano
scale (<100 nm) ZnO powder. The most important advantage of seed coat-
ing with nano ZnO is that it does not exert any osmotic potential at the
time of germination of the seed, thus, the total requirement of Zn of the
crop can be loaded with the seed. This protocol of seed coating with ZnO
can be used by the seed producing agencies to produce customized seed
for Zn deficient areas of the country.
9.1 INTRODUCTION
Currently, the effects of engineered NPs on human health and on entire
ecosystem is not much explored ever, though naturally occurring NPs
(e.g., nanoclays, iron oxides and volcanic ash) are ubiquitous in all eco-
systems. It has also been demonstrated that naturally occurring NPs have
important local, regional, and even global consequences. For examples, it
has been shown that airborne, NPs (and large dust particles) link the des-
erts of Africa with the productivity of the open ocean and help sustain the
nutrient demands of terrestrial ecosystems worldwide (Chadwick et al.,
1999) we now know that naturally occurring NPs are even present in in-
terplanetary and interstellar space (Hochella, 2008). They have also been
abundant on earth since its formation, were part of its formation (Becker,
2006) and life from the beginning has evolved in their presence. Emerging
research is suggesting that many organisms synthesize NPs. As analytical
tools for the detection of NPs improve, we may find that biogenic NPs are
ubiquitous and bio-geochemically vital across the living planet.
9.2
DEFINITION OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
Nanotechnology is defined as the understanding and control of matter at
dimensions of roughly 1-100 nm, where unique physical properties make
novel applications possible (EPA, 2007). The British Standard Institu-
tion
(BSI, 2005) and American Society for Testing and Materials
(ASTM,
1985) defined nanotechnology as “Design, characterization, production
and application of structure, devices and systems controlling shape, size
and composition at the nanoscale.” Banfield and Zhang (2001)
suggested
that
nanoparticles
might be defined based on the size at which fundamen-
