The Hindu : Front Page : Project to develop nano herbicides

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 21, 2006

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Project to develop nano herbicides

A.A. Michael Raj

Coimbatore: Two scientists from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) in Coimbatore and a third from the Technologico de Monterry (Monterry Tech) in Mexico have entered into a collaboration to carry out a five-year project with a budget of Rs. 1.02 crore, to develop nano herbicides to destroy weeds by attacking their seed coats.

The scientists are C. R. Chinnamuthu, Associate Professor of Agronomy, Directorate of Research, TNAU; E. Kokiladevi, Assistant Professor of Biotechnology, Centre for Plant Molecular Biology, TNAU; and Ilangovan Kuppusamy, Founder and Director, Nanotechnology Initiative, Monterry Tech.

Easiest way

According to the researchers, the easiest way to eliminate weeds is to destroy their seed banks in the soil and prevent them from germinating when weather and soil conditions become favourable for their growth.

Being very small, nano herbicides will be able to blend with the soil, eradicate weeds in an eco-friendly way without leaving any toxic residues, and prevent the growth of weed species that have become resistant to conventional herbicides.

Weeds survive and spread through underground structures such as tubers and deep roots. Ploughing infected fields while removing weeds by hand can make these unwanted plants spread to uninfected areas.

Season

Each of these plants produces thousands of seeds every growing season.

In some cases, the buried seeds can sprout even after 20 years. Frequently tilling the soil can multiply weeds that spread through root fragments.

Herbicide chemical formulations needed to be used carefully in order to prevent contaminating the environment or making the weeds herbicide-resistant. Removing weeds by hand is laborious, time-consuming and inefficient.

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