By: Dr. Ripudaman Singh, Asstt. Editor-ICN & Hemant Kumar, Special Correspondent-ICN
Russian researchers have developed new fertilizers based on nano-powders of transition metals. In field trials on agricultural crops, harvest increased by more than a quarter, compared with conventional fertilizers.
NEW DELHI: Metals like iron, cobalt and copper affect a plant’s level of resistance to pests and diseases. These microelements are typically introduced into the soil as soluble salts, but monsoon showers and irrigation can wash away, requiring further applications. They also have the potential to disrupt local ecosystems as they pass into the groundwater.
The team, led by the National University of science and Technology (NUST) in Moscow, has developed a group of fertilizers that are applied as a powder to plant seeds, without losers to the soil a supply of necessary microelements at the stage o seeding: reports Alexander Gusev, head of the project at NUST’s Department of Functional Nanosystems.
Gusev reported improved field germination and increased yield of 20-25%; the main difficulty was to produce a powder from the nanoparticles, which tended to quickly sick together as aggregates, says Gusev – a problem they solved by using organic stabilizers and then subjecting the colloidal solutions to ultrasonic processing.
Gusev now wants to discover how the new fertilizer acts in different soils, and in relation to different plant cultures. Its environmental safety also needs to be evaluated before widespread use, he added.
Steve McGrath, head of sustainable agricultural sciences at Rothamsted Research, is skeptical. Plants are adapted to take up iron forms of these microelements, not nanoparticles. Also, seeds do not take up much micronutrients. Roots do that, and depending on the crop and specific nutrient, most uptake is near to the growing ends of the root, when throughout the growing season, when the seed and nearby roots are long gone; he said.
If there is an effect on crop yield, he thinks it is more likely to be due to the early antifungal and antibacterial effects of nanoparticles. He concluded, “They have a large and highly reactive surface area and if they are next to membranes of pathogens when they react they generate free radicals that disrupt those membranes. So, in a soil that is particularly disease-infected, there may be some protection at the early seedling stage.
