ABSTRACT
Pesticides are being used more often in agriculture to protect crops against pests, weeds, and pathogens, but a significant proportion of applied pesticides strike non-target vegetation and remain as pesticide residue in the agroecosystems, recklessly harming the plants. A significant portion, often as high as 80% of the sprayed pesticides could be detected, along with 50% of their residues from the agricultural soils. However, to ensure food security and safety, healthy soil systems are the need of the hour to fulfill the increasing demands of the ever-increasing population around the world. Soils play a crucial role as ultimate sinks for contaminants, making it reasonable to 212expect their impacts on vegetation and soil properties. Therefore, researchers worldwide are exploring a variety of current and cutting-edge strategies for the reclamation of contaminants, including pesticides. In this context, in this context, the peculiar properties of nanomaterials are attracting considerable interest in decontaminating polluted sites. Based on their physicochemical characteristics, nanomaterials are commonly selected for the detection, degradation, and removal of pesticides. Thus, this chapter addresses the present state of pesticide pollution, its consequences on agroecosystems, and the remediation approaches using various nanomaterials. For pesticide elimination, several nanoparticles, including metals, bimetallic, metal oxide, nanotubes, etc., have been used. However, to achieve a comprehensive application of nanoremediation to alleviate the health of pesticide-contaminated soils, more research and measures are required.
