via Food Engineering
The “Green Revolution” of the ’60s and ’70s has been credited with helping to feed billions around the world, with fertilizers being one of the key drivers spurring the agricultural boom. But in developing countries, the cost of fertilizer remains relatively high and can limit food production. Now researchers report in the journal ACS Nano a simple way to make a benign, more efficient fertilizer that could contribute to a second food revolution.
Farmers often use urea, a rich source of nitrogen, as fertilizer. Its flaw, however, is that it breaks down quickly in wet soil and forms ammonia. The ammonia is washed away, creating a major environmental issue as it leads to eutrophication of water ways and ultimately enters the atmosphere as nitrogen dioxide, the main greenhouse gas associated with agriculture. This fast decomposition also limits the amount of nitrogen that can get absorbed by crop roots and requires farmers to apply more fertilizer to boost production. However, in low-income regions where populations continue to grow and the food supply is unstable, the cost of fertilizer can hinder additional applications and cripple crop yields. Nilwala Kottegoda, Veranja Karunaratne, Gehan Amaratunga and colleagues wanted to find a way to slow the breakdown of urea and make one application of fertilizer last longer.
To do this, the researchers developed a simple and scalable method for coating hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles with urea molecules. HA is a mineral found in human and animal tissues and is considered to be environmentally friendly. In water, the hybridization of the HA nanoparticles and urea slowly released nitrogen, 12 times slower than urea by itself. Initial field tests on rice farms showed that the HA-urea nanohybrid lowered the need for fertilizer by one-half. The researchers say their development could help contribute to a new green revolution to help feed the world’s continuously growing population and also improve the environmental sustainability of agriculture.
Learn more: Nanoparticle fertilizer could contribute to new ‘green revolution’
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The Latest on: Nanoparticle fertilizer
Nanoparticle fertilisers show promise | Research - Chemistry World
April 4, 2018 - Nanoparticle fertilisers show promise | Research Chemistry WorldA nanocomposite fertiliser developed by US researchers has been shown to outperform conventional fertilisers, having a greater effect on plant growth with less ...Nanoparticle fertilizer could contribute to new 'green revolution' - Phys.Org
January 25, 2017 - Nanoparticle fertilizer could contribute to new 'green revolution' Phys.OrgThe "Green Revolution" of the '60s and '70s has been credited with helping to feed billions around the world, with fertilizers being one of the key drivers spurring ...
Using zinc oxide nanoparticles as fertilizers - Phys.Org
October 11, 2017 - Using zinc oxide nanoparticles as fertilizers Phys.OrgResearchers from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and National Institute for Agricultural Research and Experimentation (INIA) have studied the effects ...
Nanoparticles That Help Crops Absorb Fertilizers - Asian Scientist Magazine
February 7, 2017 - Nanoparticles That Help Crops Absorb Fertilizers Asian Scientist MagazineA nanoparticle-based fertilizer could help feed the world's growing population by halving the amount of fertilizer required.Nanoparticles could help rescue malnourished crops - Science News
May 17, 2018 - Nanoparticles could help rescue malnourished crops Science NewsNanoparticles normally used to fight cancer could also be used to treat malnourished crops.New fertilizers based on metal nanoparticles expected to produce macro-harvests - MINING.com
November 13, 2017 - New fertilizers based on metal nanoparticles expected to produce macro-harvests MINING.comRussian scientists have developed a new generation of innovative fertilizers that, they say, are capable of increasing crop productivity by 25 per cent.Slow-release nitrogen fertilizer could increase crop yields - Chemical & Engineering News
February 22, 2017 - Slow-release nitrogen fertilizer could increase crop yields Chemical & Engineering NewsNitrogen fertilizers—used to grow crops around the globe—have a problem. After they're applied to soil, more than three-quarters of their nutrients get washed ...- June 2, 2016 - Indian-Origin Scientists Create Nanoparticle Fertiliser, Usher in New Age of Farming The Better IndiaRamesh Raliya and Pratim Biswas, two Indian-origin scientists at the Washington University in St Louis are breaking barriers with their latest innovation in ...
- September 2, 2015 - UD researchers identify behaviors of nanoparticle that shows promise as nanofertilizer University of Delaware11:31 a.m., Sept. 2, 2015--Researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered unique behaviors of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HANPs) that show ...
Carbon Dots Make Good Fertilizers - Asian Scientist Magazine
August 25, 2017 - Carbon Dots Make Good Fertilizers Asian Scientist MagazineScientists in China have created nanoparticles from rapeseed pollen that increase the yield of lettuce by almost 50 percent.
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The Latest on: Nanoparticle fertilizer
- Indian scientists use nanoparticle-treated seeds to raise yields on December 31, 2018 at 4:00 pm
But is the strategy safe enough and can it reduce the use of chemical fertilizer without compromising production? Das, who led the study, pointed out: "We are not putting the nanoparticles in the soil ... […]
- Gold Nanoparticles Could Lend Green to Fabrics and Fragrances on December 13, 2018 at 4:00 pm
Scaling up the gold nanoparticle process for commercial use is one major hurdle, and another team of Harvard researchers may have the key to that. They are working on a more precise way to manipulate ... […]
- Online consultation for review and comments on the zero-draft International Code of Conduct for the Use and Management of Fertilizers on June 14, 2018 at 5:00 pm
After an online consultation between 21 December 2017 and 11 February 2018 and with the support of an open-ended working group (OEWG) of fertilizer experts, the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on So... […]
- Texas A&M researcher finds nanoparticles may be the key to reducing arsenic intake in rice on May 21, 2018 at 5:00 pm
One chemical compound used in Ma’s research, zinc oxide nanoparticles, has been shown to inhibit the uptake of arsenic in certain varieties of rice while also acting as a fertilizer. Treating rice pad... […]
- With new technique, researchers create metallic alloy nanoparticles with unprecedented chemical capabilities on April 4, 2018 at 8:34 am
Metallic alloy nanoparticles—particles ranging from about a billionth to 100 billionths of a meter in size—are often used as catalysts in the production of industrial products such as fertilizers and ... […]
- New fertilizers based on metal nanoparticles expected to produce macro-harvests on November 13, 2017 at 10:24 am
Russian scientists have developed a new generation of innovative fertilizers that, they say ... that the main difficulty these kinds of projects face is that highly mobile nanoparticles tend to quickl... […]
- Using zinc oxide nanoparticles as fertilizers on October 11, 2017 at 6:12 am
Researchers from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and National Institute for Agricultural Research and Experimentation (INIA) have studied the effects of using zinc oxide nanoparticles on agric... […]
- Fate and Toxic Effects of Silver Nanoparticles and Its Transformation Products in Soil Applied with Biosolids on April 30, 2017 at 5:00 pm
On the other hand, sewage sludge, which is also called as biosolids, can be a nutrient resource for the agri-foods which leads to their usage in agriculture as fertilizers ... concerns is the presence ... […]
- Slow-release nitrogen fertilizer could increase crop yields on February 22, 2017 at 5:28 am
That wastes money and creates environmental messes downstream. Now, researchers have used nanoparticles to create a potential solution: a fertilizer that releases nutrients over a week, giving crops m... […]
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