Toxicological Effects of Nanobiofertilizer on Water Body, Water Quality, Lower Plants, Zooplanktons, and Beneficial Microorganisms

Abstract

The present assessment and understanding suggest that the global food production is enough to take care of the current global population. However, it has been observed the global population is steadily increasing; there is a forecast that by 2050, the world population would hit a staggering 9.8 billion people. It has been thus advised that there is a need for dramatic increase in food production and supply to meet up with the nutrition needs of the population increase. Application of synthetic fertilizer has been helpful in food production as it enhanced soil fertility with consequent improved crop yield. However, the use of chemical fertilizer has raised global concern because of the associated environmental pollution and effects on soil microbial community. The idea behind biofertilizers was to replace the synthetic fertilizer and eliminate the risk of environmental pollution and effects on eco-biodiversity. Biofertilizers are cheap to produce and do not pollute the environment, however, it is vulnerable to desiccation and efficacy is dependent upon the temperature and/or dryness/wetness of the soil. Introduction of nanotechnology and nanoparticles (NPs)-based soil fertilization into crop production seemed the masterstroke. It ushered in minimal fertilizer application; avoiding wastages, increased crop nutrient absorption, improve crop growth, and productivity while generally reducing cost of production. Unfortunately, it has been established that excessive application of this cutting-edge technology has the potential to cause environmental (aquatic and terrestrial) pollution, harm beneficial terrestrial, and aquatic microbial communities, and have deleterious effects on phyto- and zooplanktons. Users of NPs-based fertilizers are thus advised to engage in the proper management of this product to minimize or completely eliminate the negative consequences associated with.