Advances in Nano-Fertilizers and Nano-Pesticides in Agriculture: A Smart Delivery System for Crop Improvement

Dr. Sudisha Jogaiah is Assistant Professor at the Department of studies in Biotechnology and Microbiology and presently the programme coordinator of “Plant Healthcare and Diagnostic Centre for Northern Karnataka, Karnatak University, Karnataka, India. He has published more than 70 international research papers and several book chapters. He has experience in Green or Mycosynthesis of nanotechnology and its applications on induce resistance in crop plants against biotic stress. Dr. Jogaiah is also the recipient of 14 Indian national awards from various scientific bodies including ICAR, DST, and Young Scientist Award for Agriculture Microbiology from Association of Microbiologist of India, as well as two international awards includes the most prestigious Japan International Young Agricultural Research Award from Government of Japan.

Professor Harikesh Bahadur Singh is Professor & Head of the Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Over the past 35 years, Professor Singh has served Central Universities and CSIR Institutes with his teaching and research. Based on his scientific contribution and leadership in the field of plant pathology, Professor Singh has been honoured with prestigious awards such as the CSIR technology award, Vigyan Bharti award, and BRSI Industrial Medal. His research has resulted in more than 300 publications and 17 books. Professor Harikesh Bahadur Singh is Head of the Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. Over the past 36 years, Professor Singh has served at Central Universities and CSIR Institutes with his teaching and research. He is also a Visiting Professor at Cornell University and University of Illinois, USA. Based on his scientific contribution and leadership in the field of plant pathology, Professor Singh has successfully completed 21 research projects worth more than 7.5 crores. He had Established fruitful research collaborations with academic and industry researchers and published more than 300 research papers and 17 books jointly with national and international collaborators and granted 19 patents. He is recognized as top scientist in the emerging Nanotechnology field in India as evidenced through research publications and successful projects. He has been honoured with prestigious awards, such as the CSIR technology award, M.S. Swaminathan award, Mundkur Memorial award, and BRSI Industrial Medal. He is the member of several research task force committee of Government of India.

Dr Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto, Associate Professor at the Institute of Science and Technology of São Paulo State University (UNESP), Campus Sorocaba at the Environmental Engineering undergraduate course and at the postgraduate in Environmental Sciences. He is Fellow from the Royal Society of Chemistry. He has experience in environmental nanotechnology, with an emphasis on health and environmental nanotechnology and applications of nanotechnology in agriculture. Dr. Fraceto has been active in the development of nanocarrier systems for the encapsulation of compounds with bioactive properties. From his works, patents have been deposited, of which one is licensed for the development of nano-herbicides for weed control. With this technology developed, it was possible to produce a more effective carrier system, since with 10 times less active compound the same effect of a commercial formulation was achieved and, in this context, promoting low environmental impacts. Also, from this technology, it was possible to develop other carrier systems for fungicides, as well as, for compounds of botanical origin (insecticides and repellents. In addition, Dr. Fraceto has developed high-level research and contributed to scientific and technological development at the national and international levels, with numerous internationally renowned scientific collaborators. He has published about 180 papers in international peer reviewed journals and has supervised undergraduate, graduate (master and PhD) and supervised Pos-docs. He is Associate editor from high standard journals and reviewer from more than 50 journals.

Dr. Renata de Lima, was the coordinator of the Biotechnology undergraduate course of the University of Sorocaba from 2006 to 2014 and from the of the Engineeringof Biotechnology and Bioprocess undergraduate course from 2014 to 2016. She is professor of the postgraduate program in Biotechnology and Environmental Monitoring (UFSCar) and of the postgraduate programs in Technology and Environment (Uniso) and Program of Masters and PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Uniso). She has experience in genetics, with emphasis in molecular biology, cytogenetics and mutagenesis. She works with the following topics: ecotoxicology, toxicity of nanomaterials, environmental mutagenesis, agrochemicals, biocides, molecular biology, molecular genetics, molecular genetics of microorganisms.