IIT Kanpur develops novel nanoparticles for disease, rice crop protection

NEW DELHI: A team of researchers of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has developed a novel nanoparticle-based bio-degradable-carbonoid-metabolite (BioDCM) that can protect agricultural crops from fungal and bacterial infections.

“A team of researchers led by Dr Santosh K Misra, and Piyush Kumar from the Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering has developed a Novel Nanoparticle-based Bio-Degradable-Carbonoid-Metabolite (BioDCM) that can protect agricultural crops from fungal and bacterial infections, in collaboration with researchers Dr C Kannan and Divya Mishra from ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research, and Dr R Balamurugan and Mou Mandal from the School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad.” IIT Kanpur said in a statement.

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This comes as the second such innovation in the agriculture sector since last year from IIT Kanpur. Last year, out of the 107 patents filed by the institute, one path-breaking invention was the Bhu-Parikshak soil-testing device that has proven to significantly reduce the time and hassle required for testing soil in the lab.

The technology is a protective biological alternative that can be used to enhance crop protection against various diseases in agricultural field, especially for rice crops.

Explaining the technology, the institute said, “It is developed as a bio-degradable nanoparticle system with a metabolite – the end-product of metabolism or the process of conversion of food, extracted from the naturally occurring common soil fungi viz., Trichoderma asperellum Strain TALK1. This extracted metabolite can be used as an effective organic antimicrobial agent and carbonaceous degradable encompassing to provide protection against crop diseases and enrichment of soil, respectively.”

Some key advantages of the invention:

• Precise target action
• Can be active at low concentration
• Has similar advantages like chemical pesticides but is safe and biodegradable, unlike them
• Can offer multiple actions, for example – bio pesticide, phyto-stimulants, etc.
• Fast in action as it is applied in bioactive forms
• The bio formulation protects the active compound from high temparature

IIT Kanpur develops novel nanoparticles for rice crop protection

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IIT Director Kanpur Abhay Karandikar said, “Our institute has undertaken many innovative high tech projects to help farmers. As the problems faced by the farmers are multi-fold, our efforts also have been relentless to enrich the whole ecosystem of farming, in general. In that regard, the invention of these Novel Nanoparticles would lessen the worries of crop infection and give boost to crop yield. I congratulate the whole team for their efforts in delivering another boon to the farmers.”