Nanoparticle-Based Strategies to Enhance Plant Disease Protection Techniques of Field Crops

Plant disease is a deterioration of the natural state of plants that can severely hinder and transform their basic behaviour and function. Plant diseases caused by different pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi, have been pervasive issues in agriculture for centuries around the world. The present scenario of pest management totally relies on pesticides, such as fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides. Despite the fact that these agrochemicals have many advantages, like quick action, reliability, cost-effectiveness, and high availability, they also show many adverse effects. Development of pest/pathogen resistance, resurgence of the pest population, and harmful effects on non-targeted organisms and the environment are some negative aspects of pesticide application. Nanoscience and technology could be a potential solution for value addition in the current crop production and protection systems. The engineered nanoparticles are designed with desired properties, like pore size, shape, and surface characteristics, so that these can be used to protect the plants from diseases in different ways, like nanoparticles themselves serving as protectants, nanoparticles as a delivery medium either for active compounds such as pesticides or for double-stranded RNA (to provide protection by RNA interference), and nanoparticles as biosensors (nanosensors) for monitoring the plant diseases in large areas through field-sing or remote sensing. As an alternative to current agricultural practices, nanoparticle-based strategies have tremendous potential to improve agricultural practices, but they are also associated with undesirable side effects, such as their distribution in the food chain and environment, risks to human, animal, and plant health, etc. Risk assessment and management are required for understanding and evaluating the behaviour of nanoparticles and their associated risks. To mitigate these risks, microorganism- and plant-derived green nanoparticles have gained more attention in recent years due to their biological or eco-friendly nature and easy production methods. Several researches are being conducted worldwide in order to boost up the significance of nanoparticles and nano-based techniques to make them an essential and fundamental part of smart agricultural systems.