Coimbatore: To enlighten the farming community, agro industries and other stakeholders on the importance of various advanced Nano products, an interactive meeting was arranged by the Department of Nano Science Technology, Directorate of Natural Resource Management on August 13 at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural Univesity (TNAU) in Coimbatore.
Coimbatore: To enlighten the farming community, agro industries and other stakeholders on the importance of various advanced Nano products, an interactive meeting was arranged by the Department of Nano Science Technology, Directorate of Natural Resource Management on August 13 at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural Univesity (TNAU) in Coimbatore.
Stakeholders from seed, fertilizer, pesticide, agro chemical and polymer industries besides farmers and fruit exporters from Coimbatore, Theni, Krishnagiri, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai participated in the Nano Products Meet.
N P Mohapatra, CGM, NABARD, inaugurated the Meet while Dr. N Kumar, Vice Chancellor delivered the presidential address. Dr. K S Subramanian, the Director of Research and NABARD Chair Professor and Dr. A Lakshmanan, Professor and Head, Department of Nano Science and Technology introduced the products to stakeholders and anchored the panel discussion. Dr. R Santhi, the Director (DNRM), M Nageswara Rao, DGM, NABARD, Dr. A S Krishnamoorhy, Registrar, University Officers, TNAU scientists and students participated in the Meet.
Nano technology has touched all realms of life including agriculture and the success has been widely embraced by the scientific community. TNAU is the first State Agricultural University in India to establish an exclusive Department of Nano Science and Technology in 2009 with a view to initiate research in crosscutting areas.
The Nano Center at TNAU is working on various Nano products of Agricultural importance such as Enhanced Freshness Nano Formulation (Fruity Fresh) and Nano stickers for extending the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, Nano fibres for the smart delivery of agro inputs, Designer seeds to enhance productivity, Bio nano polymer to replace synthetic plastics, Super absorbent hydrogel for moisture retention, Chitosan nano spheres and Nano silica for pest and disease management.
Two Nano formulations would be commercialized by the Directorate of agri business development soon. Fruity fresh is a liquid nano formulation containing hexanal that keeps fruits and vegetables fresh for more days. The pre-harvest spray of Fruity Fresh extends the shelf life of mango for 2 weeks on trees and another two weeks under storage conditions by employing post-harvest dip methodology. Hexanal has also been successfully encapsulated in polymer matrix either as an electro spun fibre matrix (Nano sticker) or nano-pellets that extends shelf life of fruits by 1-2 weeks during storage and transportation. This nano sticker and pellets technology is highly user-friendly and can be placed inside cartons containing fruits during transport for enhancing freshness.
The seed priming technology using nanofibre matrix is ready for pilot testing. The mesoporousnano silica can be employed to impregnate any pesticide molecules to achieve higher bio efficacy and sustained release.The interesting innovation from the Nano technology Center is the chitosan-based super absorbent biopolymer for moisture retention and controlled release of nutrients. This technology has huge potential in hydrophonics, poly house and indoor cultivation besides in seed priming. The Annonaacetogenins encapsulated using nano systems could be used in cancer therapy due to higher bio availability and sustained release.
The Nanotech Center of TNAU has developed nano film from agro wastes such as banana pseudo stem and Agave to replace synthetic plastic. The Nano-Fibrillated Cellulose extracted from banana pseudo stem can be used as filler in biopolymer matrix to develop bio films. This technology can be customized by polymer industries based on their requirements with the Nano products meet striving to help industries to work in coordination with the Nano Centre of TNAU to commercialize these technologies at the earliest.
Stakeholders from seed, fertilizer, pesticide, agro chemical and polymer industries besides farmers and fruit exporters from Coimbatore, Theni, Krishnagiri, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai participated in the Nano Products Meet.
N P Mohapatra, CGM, NABARD, inaugurated the Meet while Dr. N Kumar, Vice Chancellor delivered the presidential address. Dr. K S Subramanian, the Director of Research and NABARD Chair Professor and Dr. A Lakshmanan, Professor and Head, Department of Nano Science and Technology introduced the products to stakeholders and anchored the panel discussion. Dr. R Santhi, the Director (DNRM), M Nageswara Rao, DGM, NABARD, Dr. A S Krishnamoorhy, Registrar, University Officers, TNAU scientists and students participated in the Meet.
Nano technology has touched all realms of life including agriculture and the success has been widely embraced by the scientific community. TNAU is the first State Agricultural University in India to establish an exclusive Department of Nano Science and Technology in 2009 with a view to initiate research in crosscutting areas.
The Nano Center at TNAU is working on various Nano products of Agricultural importance such as Enhanced Freshness Nano Formulation (Fruity Fresh) and Nano stickers for extending the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, Nano fibres for the smart delivery of agro inputs, Designer seeds to enhance productivity, Bio nano polymer to replace synthetic plastics, Super absorbent hydrogel for moisture retention, Chitosan nano spheres and Nano silica for pest and disease management.
Two Nano formulations would be commercialized by the Directorate of agri business development soon. Fruity fresh is a liquid nano formulation containing hexanal that keeps fruits and vegetables fresh for more days. The pre-harvest spray of Fruity Fresh extends the shelf life of mango for 2 weeks on trees and another two weeks under storage conditions by employing post-harvest dip methodology. Hexanal has also been successfully encapsulated in polymer matrix either as an electro spun fibre matrix (Nano sticker) or nano-pellets that extends shelf life of fruits by 1-2 weeks during storage and transportation. This nano sticker and pellets technology is highly user-friendly and can be placed inside cartons containing fruits during transport for enhancing freshness.
The seed priming technology using nanofibre matrix is ready for pilot testing. The mesoporousnano silica can be employed to impregnate any pesticide molecules to achieve higher bio efficacy and sustained release.The interesting innovation from the Nano technology Center is the chitosan-based super absorbent biopolymer for moisture retention and controlled release of nutrients. This technology has huge potential in hydrophonics, poly house and indoor cultivation besides in seed priming. The Annonaacetogenins encapsulated using nano systems could be used in cancer therapy due to higher bio availability and sustained release.
The Nanotech Center of TNAU has developed nano film from agro wastes such as banana pseudo stem and Agave to replace synthetic plastic. The Nano-Fibrillated Cellulose extracted from banana pseudo stem can be used as filler in biopolymer matrix to develop bio films. This technology can be customized by polymer industries based on their requirements with the Nano products meet striving to help industries to work in coordination with the Nano Centre of TNAU to commercialize these technologies at the earliest.