Nanobiotechnology to advance stress resilience in plants: Current opportunities and challenges

A sustainable and resilient crop production system is essential to meet the global food demands. Traditional chemical-based farming practices have become ineffective due to increased population pressures and extreme climate variations. Recently, nanobiotechnology is considered to be a promising approach for sustainable crop production by improving the targeted nutrient delivery, pest management efficacy, genome editing efficiency, and smart plant sensor implications. This review provides deeper mechanistic insights into the potential applications of engineered nanomaterials for improved crop stress resilience and productivity. We also have discussed the technology readiness level of nano-based strategies to provide a clear picture of our current perspectives of the field. Current challenges and implications in the way of upscaling nanobiotechnology in the crop production are discussed along with the regulatory requirements to mitigate associated risks and facilitate public acceptability in order to develop research objectives that facilitate a sustainable nano-enabled Agri-tech revolution. Conclusively, this review not only highlights the importance of nano-enabled approaches in improving crop health, but also demonstrated their roles to counter global food security concerns. Image 1 • Nanobiotechnology enhances crop resilience and productivity for sustainable farming. • Traditional chemical methods fail due to population pressure and climate changes. • Nanomaterials enhance crop productivity by improving nutrient delivery, pest management and genome editing. • Addressing regulations and challenges is key prior to nano-biotech's use in crop production. • Nanobiotechnology can significantly contribute to improving crop stress resilience despite challenges.