Application of Polymeric Nanoparticles on Ameliorating Crop Productivity

Polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) have attracted considerable interest as bioactive agent nano-carriers that improve the targeting delivery, cellular uptake, and sustained release ability of cargo. Hence, PNPs have been widely used in different fields including medicine, food, and agriculture. In this chapter, we describe several types and the applications of PNPs in ameliorating crop productivity focusing on promoting plant growth and delivery of different agrochemicals to control the environmental stresses including biotic factors and abiotic factors. Briefly, PNPs have been used to deliver macronutrients and growth promoters to improve plant production. Remarkably, several types of PNPs can directly induce plant growth without requiring the addition of growth promoters. In addition, PNPs significantly improved the effects of pesticides against biotic stress factors compared to the traditional formulations. Some abiotic stress factors including drought, salinity and heavy metal reported to affect different aspects of plants can also be controlled by application of PNPs. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives of polymeric nano-carriers in the delivery of agrochemical agents for agricultural applications are also discussed.