ISSN: 2041-6792

Clinical Investigation

Modern Chemistry Innovations

World population keeps growing. Some predictions suggest we will be almost 10 billion humans by 2050. Feeding that many people will require a huge increase in agricultural production, while keeping crops sustainable: minimizing the environmental impact in terms of land use, reducing the amount of water needed, and mitigating the contamination by agrochemicals such as fertilizers or pesticides. Unsurprisingly, nanotechnology is attracting quite a lot of attention beyond the pharma and health industries. Tailored nano-delivery systems could also become a great tool for farmers, as it would eventually allow them to tackle the main problems of conventional pesticides such as environmental contamination, bioaccumulation, and the huge increase in pest resistance. There are very few publications that carefully analyze the benefits—and risks—of so-called “nanoagrochemicals” against their conventional alternatives. In most cases, the increase in efficacy is quite limited. However, in some cases researchers have observed improvements by an order of magnitude under laboratory conditions. We still need a proper assessment of the efficacy of nanopesticides under field conditions. That is why some companies still investigate their potential, proving that there is still hope for this technology. Canadian Vive Crop is possibly the best example, selling products that have demonstrated better absorption and less environmental impact than their non-nano commercial alternatives. Moreover, this company recently received the approval of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to commercialize various nano-encapsulated insecticides and fungicides. Nanotechnology may not be the only ingredient to a successful new, more sustainable agriculture, but it will certainly lead to more sophisticated agrochemicals with a lower impact on the environment and human health.

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