Increased water consumption worldwide has resulted in low-quality water resources utilized for crop irrigation in the agricultural sector; however, these sources tend to be contaminated. New research published in the MDPI sustainability explores whether the addition of nanofertilizers can enhance these water sources.
Here, the team investigated the effects of nanofertilizers on saline water sources in tomato crops.
Harmful Effects of Conventional Fertilizers
Owing to the extensive utilization of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, traditional fertilizers have produced several ecological threats, including food poisoning and soil deterioration.
Excess nitrogen in the air and water from fertilizers can cause respiratory problems, heart illness, and many malignancies, as well as hinder agricultural development and boost hypoallergenic pollen output.
Keeping in mind the low effectiveness of traditional fertilizer use (ranging from 20 to 40 %), a large proportion of these fertilizers eluted into aquifers and ultimately streams, causing financial damage, eutrophication, and public health complications.
Are Nanofertilizers a Viable Option?
Considering these limitations of conventional fertilizers, nano fertilizers are an advantageous alternative. Nanofertilizers are thought to be interesting substances because they exhibit the distinctive properties of nanoparticles at the nanoscale.
Many studies have found advantages regarding the usage of nanofertilizers on agricultural plants such as hay, soy, potatoes, maize, and oats. Benefits include improved quality of the fruit, production, and storability, as well as reduced nutrient leakage into the soil following harvesting of crops.
Iron, copper, selenium, and zinc are the most frequent minerals that are already used as nutrient-based nanofertilizers.
Why Quality of the Irrigation Water Matters?
Irrigation quality of water is a constraining element in the agriculture industry worldwide, with different irrigation water quality parameters such as salinity and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), sodium, manganese as well as toxic substances.
When irrigation water has a high salt concentration and toxic substances, the water loses quality and accumulates in soil samples and produced crops. This problem has been exacerbated by the extensive use of wastewater in the cultivation of crops, which contains various toxins that may continue throughout the food chain.
Many substances, including hydrogel, biochar, and nanomaterials, have been used to purify water sources. Nanomaterials have been utilized to remove contaminants such as cadmium and chromium from polluted water; however, the usefulness of nanofertilizers in increasing the productivity of farmed plants watered with poor water quality requires additional investigation.
Why Tomato Plants?
Tomato plants (Solanum Lycopersicum L.) are regarded as one of the most important vegetable crops worldwide due to their great gastronomic and commercial importance, in addition to their nutritious significance. As a result of their high oxide concentration, tomatoes are naturally strong in antioxidants and may defend against prostate cancer as well as protect human skin from UV radiation.
This crop has a long growing season and high water demands, and it can yield under a variety of conditions, including salt stress, dehydration, copper neurotoxicity, and continual watering with salty water. As a result, the current study was designed to determine if nanofertilizers (Cu and Se), either individually or in combination, can reduce the influence of salty water on tomatoes’ productivity and quality.
Result Findings
Undertreatment with average quality of water and coupled nano-Se, the longest branch growth (69.8 cm) was attained. The maximum chlorophyll concentration (79.7 SPAD) was measured following nano-Se administration and watering with low-quality water.
Among all tested properties, the number of branches per plant was the only one that had a non-significant influence on vegetative development. The highest amount of fruit yield (2.07 kg plant-1) and total soluble solid content (9.24 %) was acquired under irrigated agriculture using low quality of water (IW3) and 100 mg L-1 of nano-Cu.
The highest value of vitamin C content (mg 100 g-1 FW) was achieved under fertigation using low water quality (IW3) and a combination of 100 mg L-1 of nano-Se and nano-Cu. Furthermore, the microbiological populations of bacterium, fungi, and actinobacteria increased after 30 days of transplantation and declined in all treatment at harvests due to the negative effect of poor irrigation water quality.
In short, the controlled utilization of bio-nano fertilizers was deemed successful in boosting the productivity as well as the quality of the produced crops.
News
A Hidden DNA Mechanism Could Explain How 20% of Human Cancers Develop
Researchers have identified an unexpected molecular vulnerability in cancers carrying BAF mutations. Mutations found in roughly 20% of human cancers may promote tumor growth by changing how DNA is organized inside cells. Researchers have [...]
Ebola kills over 5,300 in fastest-growing outbreak on record
Africa’s latest Ebola outbreak has killed nearly 5,400 people, the vast majority of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the continent’s top health agency. Africa Centres for Disease Control and [...]
China makes early progress in using sound waves to stimulate damaged brains
Chinese researchers are testing whether focused ultrasound can help restore consciousness in patients with severe brain injuries, adding to a growing international effort to use sound waves to stimulate deep brain structures without surgery. [...]
Micro-drones fly through the body thanks to ultrasound
At the EPFL, micro-drones have been developed that can be moved without a motor or battery.No motors, no batteries, no electronics on board, just small cavities that convert sound waves into thrust: this is [...]
A Single Enzyme Could Hold the Key to Treating a Devastating Brain Disorder
Blocking an enzyme’s production restored brain growth and healthy behaviors in mice engineered to develop Angelman syndrome, pointing to a possible treatment target. Children with Angelman syndrome begin to show difficulties with thinking and [...]
Scientists Develop a Clever New Way To Kill Cancer Cells From the Inside
Scientists have developed an experimental strategy that exploits a chemical byproduct of cancer cells to produce anticancer drugs directly inside them. Scientists in Japan have developed an experimental method that uses a chemical produced [...]
Our books are available worldwide!
Online Sellers other than Amazon, Routledge, and IOPP Indigo Global Health Care Equivalency in the Age of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Artifcial Intelligence Global Health Care Equivalency In The Age Of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine And Artificial [...]
After only a short training, people in a coma managed to send targeted signals
Researchers have succeeded in communicating with brain-injured patients who are unconscious. They see enormous potential in this for future treatments. Patients who lie motionless in bed after a severe brain injury and do not [...]
MIT Scientists Reprogram Immune Cells Inside the Body To Destroy Cancer
Natural killer cells reprogrammed inside mice eliminated lymphoma tumors and helped damaged livers heal, though whether this approach could help people with cancer or autoimmune disease remains unknown. To make a cancer treatment from [...]
Melanoma mRNA Vaccine Shows Promise in Preventing Disease Recurrence
Key takeaways: Phase 3 trial finds personalized intismeran plus pembrolizumab may better prevent high-risk melanoma recurrence after surgery The trial enrolled 1,137 patients and builds on phase 2 results showing about half the recurrence [...]
Scientists Discover a Powerful New Weapon Against a Dangerous Gut Infection
The promise of an experimental treatment for C. difficile gut infections lies partly in the bacteria it leaves alive, according to early laboratory and mouse research. Broad-spectrum antibiotics can disrupt the gut’s microbial community, [...]
Your Bones May Hold a Hidden Clue to Blood Cancer Survival
For people with blood cancers called myelodysplastic syndromes, osteoporosis may hold an overlooked clue to survival, a three-year observational study suggests. In blood cancers that develop in the bone marrow, an important clue to [...]
Researchers Discover What Reading for Pleasure May Be Doing to Your Brain
Reading for pleasure may offer surprising benefits for the brain, with research linking the habit to better mental health, stronger cognitive abilities, and a lower risk of dementia. Reading for pleasure may do far [...]
Scientists Discover a Hidden Trigger That Keeps Inflammation Alive
Inflammation persists after proteins detach from immune receptors, revealing a potential target for autoimmune treatments. Since a Nobel Prize-winning discovery in the 1990s identified molecules called Toll-like Receptors as the guardians of the human [...]
A Virus Gives Itself Away the Moment It Attacks
Researchers have found the trigger behind a powerful bacterial defense against viruses. Viruses that prey on bacteria could become an increasingly important tool for treating bacterial infections, particularly as antibiotic resistance makes some infections [...]
Scientists Discover Aspirin May Slash Dementia Risk by 70% – but Only for Certain People
Aspirin was linked to a sharply lower dementia risk in some older adults, and their genes may hold the clue. A Monash University analysis found that older adults with a particular genetic profile had [...]
