Nanobiofertilizers: The Futuristic Tools for Nutrient Management in Plants

The agricultural sector is currently facing tremendous pressure primarily due to the increasing demands of food for the rapidly growing population in the world. The situation is going critical due to limited land availability and plant stress factors related to the recent global climate change scenario. Conventional fertilizers pollute the environment, fail to help the plants withstand climate-induced stress factors and degrade the soil quality in the long run. These situations compelled the research community to look for environmentally friendly and sustainable alternatives. Initially, the organic and compost fertilizers were considered useful, but their drawbacks prompted further research. Subsequently, biofertilizers were formulated from beneficial microbes that could stimulate plant productivity, help them tolerate stress factors and improve soil health by promoting microbial diversity. However, they have several disadvantages like inconsistency in diverse geography, low stability and poor shelf life. In this respect, nonfertilizer seems a superior alternative to the synthetic chemical fertilizers because of their effectiveness at low concentrations, sustained release of nutrients according to the requirements of the plants and soil physicochemical factors with enhanced stability. Despite these, their use is restricted because of their high cost and toxic detrimental effects on plants and soil microbes. Their toxicity can, however, be largely neutralized when combined with biofertilizers. The biofertilizers, in turn, attain greater stability. Thus, nanobiofertilizers are highly promising in addressing the modern agricultural problems. However, this field requires elaborate research to understand the interactions among microbes, nanoparticles, plants and environment-induced soil conditions before nanobiofertilizers can be made freely available.