Plant biologists and material scientists from the University of Hyderabad (UoH) in collaboration of International Advanced Research Center for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) have developed nano-DAP fertilizer.
They have created this fertilizer by their innovative industrially viable dry technique to create nano DAP (Diammonium Phosphate), which is chemically stable and would decrease excess dependence on chemical fertilizers.
Results of the tests
Researchers took the traditional granular DAP (c-DAP) and the newly developed nano-DAP. They tested both kinds of fertilizers on wheat and tomato seedlings. The results showed that nano-DAP showed an extraordinary functionality over the traditional DAP.
The lab-scale experiments showed that a decreased input of nano DAP as compared with traditional DAP encouraged early seedling growth and development in tomato and wheat. The results also showed an increased uptake efficiency of phosphate in these seedlings.
Now, researchers are planning to test the fertilizer efficacy under field conditions.
According to the research team, there are a few obstacles that need to be overcome before the real potential of nano DAP is realized under field conditions. The research team believes that application of nano-DAP in limited amount can dramatically reduce the overall input of traditional phosphorus fertilizers.
In the wake of the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and the need of the hour to reduce dependence on chemical fertilizers, nano-DAP seems to have come at the right time.
About the research team
The research team consists of Naorem Ronald Reagan Singh and Harita Pant, who are research scholars at UoH, Srikanth Venkata Satya Siva Vadali and Rahul Kumar, who are faculties of UoH, and Sreedhara Sudhakara Sarma and Tata Narasinga Rao from ARCI.
According to the team, “n-DAP in reduced doses while meeting the plants’ optimum P nutrient requirement would also be preferred for better soil health and agricultural sustainability.”
The work of the research team titled “Cryo-milled nano-DAP for enhanced growth of monocot and dicot plants” is published in Nanoscale Advances, which is an esteemed scientific journal released by Royal Society of Chemistry, UK.
