Ram Swaroop Meena
Banaras Hindu University, India
Title: Nanocomposite polymers: A potential way to enhance crop productivity in current climatic era
Biography
Biography: Ram Swaroop Meena
Abstract
World population is approaching 7.5 billion and there are nearly a billion malnourished peoples. Extreme weather events such as droughts and floods are predicted to become more frequent, adding to the global burden of hunger caused by poverty, weak governance, conflict and poor market access. Modern agricultural technologies and molecular biology cannot be substituted for increase food production and livelihood to the increasing world population under climate change. Modern crop production technology has considerably raised output but has created problems of land degradation, pesticide residue in farm produce, gene erosion, atmospheric and water pollution. The task of meeting the needs of the present generation without eroding the ecological assets of the future generation should be the prime objective. This objective can be achieved only by adopting such technologies which improve resource use efficiency in agriculture. In this context use of nanocomposite polymers may be a novel technology which can improve food production without threatening the environment and the natural resources. The use of polymers in agriculture is gaining popularity in science, particularly in the field of polymer chemistry. Polymers are used to improve soil permeability, density, structure, increase moisture content in soil and increase the efficiency of pesticides and herbicides, allowing lower doses to be used and to indirectly protect the environment by reducing pollution and cleanup existing pollutants. Nanotechnology has numerous applications in agriculture especially in nanofertilizers and the nanodelivery systems for delivery of nutrients to plant roots which enhance nutrient use efficiency the amount of biomass C added to the soil. They can also be used as sorbents of environmental contaminants. Polymers can be used to increase nutrient and soil water holding capacity and enhance C input into the soil. Nano films used appropriately can prevent escape of H2O molecules from plants without inhibiting the CO2 exchange. Nanocomposite polymers are substances which are able to absorb huge amount of water and nutrient. Amended to soil they increase its water capacity, decrease evapotranspiration and allow plants to increase biomass. This innovative method is known to be easy, cheap and ecological. It lets to decrease costs of irrigation and humans work, enables to safe water and energy with holding the chemical safety for the environment under current climatic situations.