Surya Anjani Kumar and Archana Giri
Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, India
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Nanomed Nanotechnol
Fertilizers are organic compounds applied to plants to enhance growth and are applied either to the soil directly or by foliar spreading. Thus applied fertilizers contribute to provide macro nutrients (NPK) to the plant. NPK helps in leaf growth, enhances root elongation, fruiting & flowering, etc. According to Saigusa.et al., 40-70% of Nitrogen, 80-90% of Phosphorous, 50-70% of Potassium are lost to the environment but not absorbed by the plant, increasing the intrinsic economic loss and heavy environmental pollution. Hence usage of bio fertilizers may be very much helpful in reducing the problem to major extent. Plants easily absorb bio fertilizers and as they are from an organic source they may not harm the environment. But the absorption rate of bio fertilizers by the plants is very low so, to enhance it certain facilitators are used which in conjugation with nutrients may help in easy absorption of the nutrients. Recent studies have revealed that nanoparticles are one of the best mediators for delivering nutrients to the plants. There are several inorganic mediators like silver nanoparticles, nanotubes, nano beads etc., and among them chitosan is found to be a potent mediator for nutrient delivery. Studies have discovered that chitosan nanoparticles have controlled release of NPK fertilizer to the plants. Chitosan is a polysaccharide derived from chitin a skeletal material of crustaceans. Due to its poly cationic nature, chitosan reacts with negatively charged molecules showing a favourable reaction. Thus the ability of its controlling nanoparticle size it is highly favourable for most of nanotechnology applications.
Email: s.anjanikumar@gmail.com