Research Article Open Access Volume 6 • Issue 5 • 1000397 J Environ Anal Toxicol, an open access journal ISSN: 2161-0525 Open Access Mini Review Journal of Environmental & Analytical Toxicology J o u r n a l o f E n v i r o n m e n t a l & A n a l y t i c a l T o x i c o l o g y ISSN: 2161-0525 Arif et al., J Environ Anal Toxicol 2016, 6:5 DOI: 10.4172/2161-0525.1000397 Current Trends of Engineered Nanoparticles (ENPs) in Sustainable Agriculture: An Overview Namira Arif 1 , Vaishali Yadav 1 , Shweta Singh 1 , Swati Singh 1 , Rohit K Mishra 2 , Shivesh Sharma 2,3 , NK Dubey 3 , Durgesh Kumar Tripathi 2,4 * and DK Chauhan 1 * 1 DD Pant Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 2 Centre for Medical Diagnostic and Research, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 3 Department of Biotechnology, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 4 Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India Keywords: Sustainable agricultural; Engineered nanoparticles (ENPs); Crop yield; Food quality; Safety Introduction Nanotechnology is an enthralling scientifc feld, which ofers multidirectional research in the area of agriculture as well as biotechnology, now its time to unraveling the novel applications with their mode of action [1]. Now, current agricultural sector demands a continuous innovative research to meet out the food requirement of enormously increasing population, therefore nanotechnology plays a promising role by infuencing crop production in this modern technical era [2]. Agriculture is the backbone of the majority of developing countries; approximately 60% of population depends on agriculture for their livelihood [3]. Nanotechnology infuences the agriculture productivity with the relevance of Nanofertilizer, nanopesticides or nanoherbicides and nanocoating, these are smart delivery system to plants, also the various industries creating formulations with nanoparticles (100-250 nm) to enhance their actions by increasing nanoparticles solubility in water [3,4] (Figure 1). Te synthesis of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs), processing of nanomaterials, and their applications comes under the area of nanotechnology and therefore excellent eforts have been made to synthesize biogenic engineered nanoparticle (ENPs) [5,6] with a unique blend of antibacterial and photocatalytic properties for critical applications [6]. Nanomaterials properties vary from the bulk materials of same composition. Te synthesized nanoparticles provide large specifc surface area and also bears huge amount of atom for chemical reactions [7]. Engineered nanoparticles have distinctive physicochemical properties rather than other particle that exist in nature [1,8]. Tese are the two dimensional particles that generally formed between 1-100 nm range [9,10]. Efectiveness of ENPs on diferent plants are determined using diferent parameters such as chemical composition, specifc size, surface covering, reactivity, and their efective dose regarding plants [11]. Te plenty of scientifc studies, reported that the synthesized nanoparticles have positive and negative consequences on the plant growth that depends on the diferent size and other parameters of engineered nanoparticles [1,12]. Much progress has already been accomplished in this area over the past decades however, profcient compilation in the form of grave review on various aspects of this topic has not been explored properly. Tis review therefore, attempts to provide the plenty of information based on several studies together at one place. Applications of Nanoparticles on Agriculture Nanotechnology cannot be confused as the one technology but it is a group of miscellaneous technologies working at the nano level [13]. Alone in the agriculture prospects there are extensive potential applications of nanotechnology, for instance; nanotechnology facilitates release of chemicals to modern agricultural system (Figure 1) and also aid nano-sensors for the observation of environmental stress [14], use in maintaining crop setting, and combating against the environmental stresses including diseases via enhancing plant qualities [13,15]. According to Parisi et al. [16] european commission appraised that in developed countries, pesticide formulations and nanosensors are the main applications of nanotechnology which are very useful in applied and sustainable agricultural practices. As the nanotechnology facilitated applications are promising to the sustainable crop production, it also delivers multiple stresses in the way of plant growth and development. Numerous positive and negative impacts of nanoparticles were studied by several workers in the area of agricultural sector, Fraceto et al. [17] reported about some recent studies that focuses on the positive Abstract Nanotechnology is an interesting area of multifaceted research in agricultural perspective. This technology incorporates the manufacturing of material at nano level. Nanoparticles (NPs) have now become an integral part of research because of their unique features like their size, shape and surface reactivity. In agriculture sector engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) i.e., metal NPs, metal oxide NPs and Carbon Nano Tubes (CNTs) etc has been used in the form of nanofertilizers and nanopesticide/ herbicides. Therefore, the appropriate use of nanoparticles could provide a profcient sustainable platform to achieve the food requirement of global massive population. As of the application of nanotechnology to agriculture and food industry is outturn in enhanced crop yield with better food quality as well as safety. Inspite of the signifcances of nano-material, negative outcomes should also be taken in consideration before applying it on a large scale. *Corresponding authors: Durgesh Kumar Tripathi, Centre for Medical Diagnostic and Research, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Allahabad-211 004, Uttar Pradesh, India, Tel: +8081022287; E-mail: dktripathiau@gmail.com DK Chauhan, DD Pant Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Allahabad-211 002, Uttar Pradesh, India, Tel: +8081022287; E-mail: dkchauhanau@yahoo.com Received August 02, 2016; Accepted August 22, 2016; Published August 26, 2016 Citation: Arif N, Yadav V, Singh S, Singh S, Mishra RK, et al. (2016) Current Trends of Engineered Nanoparticles (ENPs) in Sustainable Agriculture: An Overview. J Environ Anal Toxicol 6: 397. doi: 10.4172/2161-0525.1000397 Copyright: © 2016 Arif N, et al. 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