Nanobiotechnology Applications in Plant Protection

Abstract

Nanoagrochemicals have played a more and more important role in agriculture and food industry, which is connected to the fact that nanotechnology is a rapidly expanding field that affords the development of materials in nanoscale dimensions that have unique properties and a wide spectrum of applications. Thus, many nanoscale materials have found their application in crop protection, i.e. protection of field, vegetable crops and fruits against plant diseases, weeds and various pests. Agents with crop protection effects have become more and more important due to the necessity to ensure enough food for the world’s population. This contribution reviews the potential of applications of different nanoscale inorganic, organic or combined materials as pesticides (herbicides, fungicides, bactericides and insecticides), i.e. as agents used for crop protections. The attention is also devoted to the impact of these nanomaterials on the environment and human health.