Applications of nanoparticles in plant disease identification and control for sustainable crop production

Nanotechnology is a vast field applicable in various areas of study, including agriculture. Nanoparticles (NPs) can be used in plant disease control in many ways, including as fungicide delivery systems and to enhance cell-to-cell interactions in plants. Their ease of use can be manipulated not only for disease control in crop production but also for the identification of plant diseases. Information on the use of NPs for plant disease control and disease identification was collated. Mechanisms of action of NPs were outlined and discussed. Through these mechanisms, ZnO-NPs reduced Fusarium wilt symptoms in tomatoes by 28.57% and provided 67.99% protection. Ag-NPs promoted a 49.2% reduction of bacterial leaf blight disease in rice caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Various techniques involving NPs have been developed for plant disease identification and have shown promise. To ensure the sustainability of applications of NPs and crop production, several knowledge gaps need to be addressed. These include the timeliness of disease identification, the lack of standardised toxicity assessment protocols for NPs, and the paucity of information on NPs-microbiome-plant tri-interactions under field conditions. Furthermore, integration of NPs biosensing with remote sensing or innovative agricultural tools, and the unclear impact of NPs accumulation on soil enzyme activity and nutrient cycling, needs to be addressed. Further study is required to develop a novel technique for real-time identification of plant disease and to accurately identify and quantify the appropriate NPs for specific plant diseases.