Nanopesticides: a review of current research and perspectives

One of the key challenges in the agricultural industry is the need to address issues associated with pesticide use (environmental contamination, bioaccumulation, and increases in pest resistance), which demands a reduction in the quantity of pesticide applied for crop and stored product protection. Nanotechnology is emerging as a highly attractive tool to achieve this goal, by offering new methods for the formulation and delivery of pesticide active ingredients, as well as novel active ingredients, collectively referred to as nanopesticides. In this chapter, recent advancements in nanopesticide research are reviewed, which are divided into several themes. The first theme concerns improvement of the water solubility of poorly soluble pesticide active ingredients to improve bioavailability, which involves formulation of the active ingredients into nanoemulsions and dispersions. The second theme involves encapsulation of pesticide active ingredients within permeable nanoparticles.