Nanostructure-Based Smart Fertilizers and Their Interaction with Plants

The rapid growth of the population enhances the global food demand which creates pressure on the global food system and agriculture. Therefore, it is necessary to fulfill the requirement for food by improving crop production. Researchers significantly improved crop production by incorporating phytohormones and fertilizers (biological and chemical). Interestingly, there is a lot of reason for the use of chemical fertilizers that significantly improve the translocation ability, water uptake capacity, germination rate, and nutritional values, subsequently production of crops. However, continuous uses of chemical fertilizers decrease soil fertility because accumulation on the soil is one of the greatest challenges. In this aspect, nanostructure (NS)-based smart fertilizers might resolve issues associated with the fertilizers without any adverse effect. The use of NS-based smart fertilizers in agriculture can revolutionize crop production. This includes the synthesis of smart fertilizers with slow- or controlled-release of nutrients and enzymes, nanostructure-based smart fertilizers, and their benefits to the plants. This chapter provides information about the current and future status of global food demand, smart fertilizers, types of smart fertilizers, involvement of nanotechnology in the formulation of NS-based smart fertilizers, synthesis methods, their impact on agriculture, and the interaction of these fertilizers with plants.