IIT Kanpur Develops Nanoparticle Solution To Save Crops From Fungal Infection

IIT Kanpur researchers have developed a novel nanoparticle-based biodegradable carbonid-metabolite (BioDCM) that is capable of protecting agricultural crops from fungal and bacterial infections.

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This was created by a team led by Santosh K Mishra and Piyush Kumar from the department of biological sciences and bioengineering, in collaboration with researchers C Kannan and Divya Mishra from ICAR- Indian Institute of Rice Research, and R Balamurugan and Mou Mandal from the School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad.

The technology is essentially a protective biological alternative that is useful in enhancing crop protection against various diseases, especially rice crops.

The nanoparticle system has a metabolite -- the final product of metabolism (also known as the process of food conversation that¡¯s extracted from naturally-occuring common soil fungi -- Trichoderma asperellum strain TALK1.

According to the official release, this extracted metabolite works as an effective organic antimicrobial agent against fungal/ bacterial pathogens while also naturally enriching the soil.

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Professor Abhay Karandikar, director, IIT Kanpur said, ¡°Our institute has undertaken many innovative high-tech projects to help farmers. As the problems faced by the farmers are multifold, our efforts also have been relentless to enrich the whole ecosystem of farming in general. In that regard, the invention of these novel particles would lessen the worries of crop infection and give a boost to yield.¡±

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