Agricultural Application of Synthesized ZnS Nanoparticles for the Development of Tomato Crop

Abstract

Nanoparticles (NPs) are playing a significant role in the development of modern agriculture. Among other metal nanoparticles, ZnS NPs are important due to their utilization in agriculture. Zinc sulfide nanoparticles have great potential to enhance agriculture production. The co-precipitation method was used to make ZnS nanoparticles, and morphological features were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM) to determine size. The average particle was near ~3 nm calculated using XRD, close to the TEM study. Tomatoes, which belong to the Solanaceae family, are one of India's most important vegetable crops. The tomato plants were sprayed with a graded concentration of zinc sulfide nanoparticles (ZnS NPs) based nano-fertilizer four times at a 15-day interval and a control. At the flowering time, growth parameters such as plant height were measured. Nanofertilizer-treated plants showed increased weight and quality of crop yield. This paper elaborates the synthesis, characterization, properties, and application of ZnS NPs as nano-fertilizer on tomato plant growth. Developing nano-based fertilizer would be a new technique in this field, as nano-fertilizers are beneficial and less toxic to chemical fertilizer and improve soil fertility.