Agrifood

The term agrifood was coined as a way to refer broadly to the entire supply chain for production and processing of food and fiber commodities historically produced on farms, plantations, ranches, greenhouses, and other agricultural settings. Pre- and post-harvest modification of agricultural products, including food, is common and modification has long been far more than shallow. Technology-enabled modifications have long targeted fundamental components of both the products and the processes in agriculture. Cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, for example, do not exist in nature. Each of these closely related foods is the result of changes executed by farmers and plant breeders in the wild mustard plant (Brassica oleracea). The innovations involved in agrifood nanotechnology are responses, in most cases, to contemporary problems in agriculture, food processing, food delivery, and food safety. As always, solutions [Page 10]are always accompanied by some trade-off with either resources or risks.

A U.S. plant physiologist compares tomato varieties containing the bioengineered ACC synthase gene.

Current agricultural practice suffers a diversity of efficiency problems which include environmental damage, food health and safety issues, and economic losses. Inefficiencies in agriculture are a result of the high-input methods of current agriculture. High inputs are required because land and water are limited, soil fertility is in decline, there are inherent genetic limits to crops and animals use of the inputs, and crop loss due to pathogens, insects, and weeds. The high-input nature of agriculture also contributes to environmental damage, such as species loss and soil degradation. Also, high input of chemicals especially contributes to the contamination of end-product foods, fruits, and vegetables. A growing body of evidence links the use of pesticides, for example, to chronic ill health in humans. High inputs and inefficiencies can mean economic losses, which affect farmers' abilities to recover from short-term crises while raising end-product prices.

Although there is rapid expansion in the ways in which nanotechnology is applied to farming, detection and management systems and delivery systems for pest control and growth augmentation represent the bulk of innovation and application for increased food production. Detection and management improvements using nanotechnology will further precision farming. Computers, global positioning systems (GPS), and devices that are able to monitor crops remotely are expected to enable near-optimal adjustments to maximize efficiency. Nanotechnology has a role both at the level of the computer, where nanotech enabled computer technology will far surpass current limits, and a role in the innovation and improvement of detection devices. These improvements will be to the sensitivity, size, and cost of existing devices through the use of nanocanti-levers small enough to detect individual molecules, for example. Food (fertilizers) and water supplies will be monitored for residues, trace chemicals, antibiotics, and toxins. Another sort of management that will be implemented will be passive control of contamination.

Nanotechnology will also change the content of the materials used as agricultural inputs. Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers are being modified through nanotechnology to improve their effectiveness. Modifications to pesticides are intended to make them more efficient, thus reducing their negative environmental and human health impacts as well as improving cost-effectiveness. Nanoparticulate composites can be used to improve the bioadhesive properties of active agents, which are found in pesticides. Increased adhesion of pesticides could reduce the amount of applications and thereby reduce the amount of pesticide exposure to nontarget organisms and the environment generally. Extended release can also be accomplished using nanotechnology. Such an application would, again, increase effectiveness of pesticides and herbicides and decrease the need for multiple applications. Fertilizers, as well, can be improved through such applications as nano diatomite and zeolite ceramic crystal powder, for example. Multiple applications of fertilizers are necessary, at times, due to the runoff of the chemical before uptake by the target crop.

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