Nanotechnologyin

Agriculture

• Norafifah binti Baharuddin• Norsyakila binti Hairon• Nur Shamila binti Ibrahim• Nurfazilla binti Firdaus Deng• Nurul Nabila binti Ahmad

What is Nanotechnology ?

• Manipulating materials and systems at the scale of atoms and molecules

• ‘Nano’ = size scale between 1nm and 100nm.• A nanometer (nm) is one-billionth of a meter• Eg: Atom = 0.1nm

Virus = 75-100nm Bacteria = 1,000=10,000nm

• Richard Feynman, a well-known American physicist

– “What would happen if we could arrange the atoms one by one the way we want them?”

Who’s involved in nanotechnology?

• Kraft• Nestle• Unilever• Pepsi Co.• BASF• Syngenta• Over 60 governments world-wide

Nanotechnology in Agriculture

• How to feed the growing population by producing more on a shrinking landscape ; Lesser input costs & Lesser hazards to the eco-system?

• How to add to the income of agricultural producers so as to sustain their motivation to grow crops?

• How to make the transaction in agro products smooth, safe and reliable?

• Applications of nanotechnology have the potential to change the entire agriculture sector and food industry chain from production to conservation, processing, packaging, transportation, and even waste treatment.

Major Challenges in Agriculture & Food Industry

Wastage of inputs

Large uncultivable

areas

Food security for growing

numbers

Low productivity in

cultivable areas

Wastage of products

Skill limitations

What Nanotechnology offers for Agriculture?

• Food security for growing numbers

Revolutionize the sector with new tools for disease detection, targeted treatment, enhancing the ability of plants to absorb

nutrients, fight diseases and withstand environmental pressures and effective systems for processing, storage and

packaging

• Low productivity in cultivable areas

Precision farming makes farming more targeted and scientific Accurate information through applications of

nanotechnology for real time monitoring of soil conditions, environmental changes and diseases and plant health issues

• Large uncultivable areas

Bringing more areas under cultivation by Nanotechnology enabled environmental monitoring and management including cost effective water management through applications of nano science

change the land use pattern substantially

• Wastage of inputs

Enabled sensors and smart delivery systems will help the agricultural industry combat viruses and other crop pathogens

• Wastage of products

Precision farming through use of nanotechnology applications can also help to reduce agricultural waste and thus keep environmental pollution to a minimum

• Skill limitations

Nanotechnology applications have the potential to produce easy-to-handle devices which reduce the dependence on human skills on many fronts, thus reducing the human risk

Products now on sale include

• Dietary supplements • Nutritional additives• Colour additives• Food processing aids• Long-life packaging• Antibacterial kitchenware• Fertilisers and pesticides

Agricultural benefits

• Increasing farm sustainability while decreasing environmental impact.

Sensors in the fields enabling targeted, minimal application of nutrients, water and/or pesticides

• Increasing global food security. Decreasing input costs, increasing yields and

decreasing post harvest loss.

• Post-harvest, non-food biomass.Cellulosic nano crystals for biofuels.

• Improving food safety.“Smart” packaging enabling less food

waste.Optimize product self-life

Potential Environmental Benefits

The use of nanotechnology in agriculture and forestry will likely have environmental benefits.Enabling the “Green Economy”Decreasing fossil fuel consumption Increasing equipment life-span Increase recycling capabilities

Future nanotechnology in food and agriculture

• Interactive, personalized foods• Edible nanotechnology wrappers• Chemical release packaging• Extensive nanotechnology surveillance• Interactive agrochemicals• Nano manipulation of seeds• Synthetic biology

Thank you!