New Pesticides and Soil Sensors

Book excerpt: New Pesticides and Soil Sensors, a volume in the Nanotechnology in the Agri-Food Industry series, is a practical resource that demonstrates how nanotechnology is a highly attractive tool that offers new options for the formulation of ‘nanopesticides’. Recent advances in nanopesticide research is reviewed and divided into several themes, including improvement of the water solubility of poorly soluble pesticide active ingredients to improve bioavailability and the encapsulation of pesticide active ingredients within permeable nanoparticles with the aim of releasing pesticide active ingredients in a controlled or targeted manner, while also protecting active ingredients from premature photo-degradation. Provides examples of pesticide formulations that contain inorganic and organic nanoparticles Includes general principles and the most recent applications of chemical sensors and multisensory systems for the assessment of soils and main soil nutrition component detection Presents the main benefits and drawbacks of chemical sensors and their employment in soil analysis for further applications Describes current issues of pesticide use, environmental contamination, bioaccumulation, and increases in pest resistance which demands a reduction in the quantity of pesticides applied for crop and stored product protection