Advances in Nano-Fertilizers and Nano-Pesticides in Agriculture

Dr. Sudisha Jogaiah is Assistant Professor and Programme Coordinator at the Laboratory of Plant Healthcare and Diagnostics, PG Department of Biotechnology and Microbiology, Karnatak University, Dharwad, India. The technological quality and expertise of Dr. Jogaiah’s lab is reflected in an extensive track record of publications with over 87 peer-reviewed papers, one national patent and 6 review articles with h-index of 24. He also contributed 18 chapters in various book editions published by Springer, Wiley-Blackwell, and Elsevier. He has expertise in plant defense enzymes and signalling pathways for induction of systemic resistance. He has also edited three books on bioactive molecules involved in plant-microbe interactions and defense. He is the recipient of Fellow of National Academy of Biological Sciences (FNABS) and has received a range of international awards. Dr. Jogaiah has served as editor of Scientific Reports, Plos One, BMC Plant Biology, Frontiers in Plant Science, Annals of Crop Sciences and Agriculture, Journal of Mycology and Plant Pathology, and BioMed Research International.

Professor Harikesh Bahadur Singh has served as Professor & Head, Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology at Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, India. His major research focus is on bioinoculats, biological control of plant pathogens and nano-biotechnology. Prof. Singh has been decorated with several prestigious National awards and honours for his scientific contributions in the field of organic farming and translational agriculture, notable being CSIR Technology Prize for Biological Sciences by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, M.S. Swaminathan award by Society for Plant Research, Vigyan Bharti Award, Prof. V.P. Bhide Memorial Award, Society for Plant Research, and many more. To his credit he has 20 U.S. patents which have been successfully transferred for commercial production of biopesticides to several industrial houses in India. He has been able to add more than 300 publications and 27 books.

Dr Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto, Associate Professor at the Institute of Science and Technology of São Paulo State University (UNESP), Campus Sorocaba at the Environmental Engineering undergraduate course and at the postgraduate in Environmental Sciences. He is Fellow from the Royal Society of Chemistry. He has experience in environmental nanotechnology, with an emphasis on health and environmental nanotechnology and applications of nanotechnology in agriculture. Dr. Fraceto has been active in the development of nanocarrier systems for the encapsulation of compounds with bioactive properties. From his works, patents have been deposited, of which one is licensed for the development of nano-herbicides for weed control. With this technology developed, it was possible to produce a more effective carrier system, since with 10 times less active compound the same effect of a commercial formulation was achieved and, in this context, promoting low environmental impacts. Also, from this technology, it was possible to develop other carrier systems for fungicides, as well as, for compounds of botanical origin (insecticides and repellents. In addition, Dr. Fraceto has developed high-level research and contributed to scientific and technological development at the national and international levels, with numerous internationally renowned scientific collaborators. He has published about 180 papers in international peer reviewed journals and has supervised undergraduate, graduate (master and PhD) and supervised Pos-docs. He is Associate editor from high standard journals and reviewer from more than 50 journals.

Dr. Renata de Lima, was the coordinator of the Biotechnology undergraduate course of the University of Sorocaba from 2006 to 2014 and from the of the Engineeringof Biotechnology and Bioprocess undergraduate course from 2014 to 2016. She is professor of the postgraduate program in Biotechnology and Environmental Monitoring (UFSCar) and of the postgraduate programs in Technology and Environment (Uniso) and Program of Masters and PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Uniso). She has experience in genetics, with emphasis in molecular biology, cytogenetics and mutagenesis. She works with the following topics: ecotoxicology, toxicity of nanomaterials, environmental mutagenesis, agrochemicals, biocides, molecular biology, molecular genetics, molecular genetics of microorganisms.