Nano-herbicide in the works

The herbicide being developed is a joint effort between scientists in Mexico and India and is promising to expand on the prospects of nanotechnology in the food industry. Currently the science is focused on helping manufacturers produce novel products to improve their processing and packaging. This development could mean nanotechnology would influence all aspects of food production from farm to fork.

The research will focus on ways to attack a weed's seed coating, which will prevent them from germinating. This approach will destroy the weed even when it is buried in soil and will prevent them from growing in even the most favourable conditions, say the researchers.

This method is more preferable to tilling and manual picking because of the costs incurred with such high-maintenance methods. Due to the incredibly small proportions of nano-scale herbicides, they can easily blend with soil and attack seeds that are buried below the reach of tillers and conventional herbicides.

A nanotech approach will reduce the need for toxic herbicides, which many weed species have grown resilient to. Tilling as well can have the harmful effect of spreading weeds that will multiply through stem cuttings.

Combined research programmes between the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in India and Monterry Tech in Mexico was announced in July of 2006 in a bid to share information and research in the fields of energy, environmental management and agricultural biotechnology.

The nano-herbicide project is expected to last five years and has a budget of nearly €200,000 ($240,000).