Nano-Enabled Agriculture Using Nano-Selenium for Crop Productivity: What Should be Addressed More?

Crop production needs saving many growing factors, which start from the germination of seeds, preparing the soil for cultivation, growing and development of crops till harvesting and even postharvest as well. The essential factors for crop growing may include all farming practices, applying biostimulants besides the environmental factors. Among biostimulants, nano-enabled agro-materials (e.g., nanofertilizers and nanopesticides), which can improve the efficiency of agrochemical delivery to cultivated crop plants. Several nanoparticles/nanomaterials have proved their potential for promoting the crop production under normal and stressful conditions such as nano-selenium (nano-Se). In this study, nano-selenium was elected as an example for nano-farming. The distinguished potential roles of nano-Se in certain agro-practices including the germination, growing under stressful conditions, and postharvest and quality of harvested crops. The suggested mechanism of nano-Se under previous agro-practices may back to its potential as antistressor in promoting the cultivated plants and improving plant resistance to adverse stresses, its role in controlling several plant enzymatic antioxidants (mainly catalase, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase), and reducing the generation of reactive oxygen species and H2O2. This study highlights the possible role of nano-Se for nano-agriculture especially under climate changes and different global crises.