A Review: Nanofertilizers for the Biofortification and Sustainable Agriculture

Improving nutritional efficiency (NUE) by endangering environmental quality has been a centralissue for agricultural food production (FPS) programs in order to sustain the growing population.Nanotechnology with nanoscale inputs for the production of nano agri-inputs (NAIPs) has alreadyemerged as an important solution to address the problem of low or moderate nutrient utilization withminimal environmental impact. Recently, a few new hybrid nanofertilizer (HNF) formulations have beendeveloped for biofortification and sustainable agriculture. Urea-modified hydroxyapatite was reported,which is a rich source of nitrogen, calcium, and phosphate. Gehan Amaratunga of the University ofCambridge has stated, “such fertilizers could reduce runoff and lead to harmful algal blooms in waterbodies”. The NAE (N Agronomic use Efficiency) for the urea-HA nanohybrids is 48%, while the NAEfor pure urea is 18%, at the field level. However, these fertilizers are expensive and have not been shownto be commercially viable up to date. Recently, nanoparticles such as copper, iron, and zinc wereincorporated into urea-modified hydroxyapatite to further increase the efficiency of the proposed fertilizer. 
