Emerging roles of nanoparticles in sustainable agriculture

<p dir="ltr">Nanoparticles have the potential to improve crop yield through precise and efficient agricultural practices, as well as by providing targeted nutrient delivery and mitigating environmental stresses (Wei et al., 2024). Accordingly, the global investment in nanotechnology has been considerably enhanced in recent years, which further highlights its wider acceptability and applications in every domain of human life (Hazarika et al., 2022). In the agricultural sector, various nanomaterial-based formulations have been developed, such as nano-sulfur, nano-urea, and nano-herbicides, among others, that boost agricultural production to feed the global population. </p><p dir="ltr">This special issue aimed to publish emerging research on the nanoparticle-mediated growth promotion and stress mitigation in plants. A total of 18 manuscripts on various aspects of phytonanotechnology were published in this special issue, comprising 12 research articles. Additionally, this special issue also published a series of comprehensive reviews that not only enhanced our understanding of how nanobiotechnology can help in increasing plant productivity but also provided valuable insights on how nanobiotechnology can be used for waste management. Moreover, a study by Joshi et al. (2025) reported the development of magnetic nanoparticles from cobalt oxide (CoO) and nickel oxide (NiO) for detection and monitoring applications. This study showed that the interaction of these nanoparticles with plant tissue significantly alters their magnetic properties, suggesting opportunities for regulating growth via an external magnetic field (Joshi et al., 2025).</p>