ABSTRACT
Nanotechnology promises to improve agricultural practices through the enhancement of management and conservation of inputs in crops, animal production and fisheries. The application of nanotechnology in agriculture is nascent. However, nanomaterials and nanodevices and nanoparticles can provide the basis of constructs and macroassemblies for developing new tools and technological platforms for the study and transformation of micronutrients in soil-plant systems. Micronutrients are important to world agriculture and human health. Micronutrient use efficiency by crops can be defined as the yield of biomass per unit input of fertiliser or nutrient content. Micronutrient deficiency in 50% of the world's soils and many crops greatly reduces the amount and quality of food. Micronutrients loaded and delivered in materials such as microcapsules and/ or porous aluminosilicates, nanomaterials and nanoparticles may provide useful ways to use fertiliser- micronutrient in a controlled fashion with high site specificity, thus resulting in economic savings to farmers and reduced environmental impacts.
