Application of Nanotechnology in Soil and Plant System with Special Reference to Nanofertilizers

Agriculture is the backbone of developing countries, with more than 60% of the population depending on it for their livelihood. Presently, the agricultural sector is facing various global challenges; climate change, urbanization, sustainable use of resources, and environmental issues such as run-off and accumulation of pesticides and fertilizers. These situations are further exacerbated by stagnation in crop yields, low nutrient use efficiency, declining soil organic matter, multi-nutrient deficiencies, climate change and shortage of labour besides exodus of people from farming. 35–40% of the crop productivity defends upon fertilizers but some of the fertilizers effect the plant growth directly. To overcome all these drawbacks a smarter way i.e., nanotechnology can be one of the source. Since fertilizers are the main concern, developing nano based fertilizer would be a new technology in this field. This review is focused on fate of nano fertilizers in soil, uptake, translocation of nano fertilizers in plants and, nano fertilizers on plant growth and development.