article · Agronomy
Soil salinity substantially reduces the growth and yield of potatoes, a crop that is moderately sensitive to saline conditions. Field trials conducted across two open-field experiments in salt-affected sandy soil examined the effects of applying zinc, boron, silicon, and zeolite nanoparticles, either individually or in combination. All nanoparticle treatments enhanced vegetative growth, shoot weight, leaf water retention, photosynthetic performance, and overall tuber yield compared to untreated controls. The treatments also elevated tissue concentrations of essential nutrients, protective proline, gibberellic acid, tuber carbohydrates, and antioxidant enzymes. The combined application of all four nanoparticles achieved the greatest physiological benefits, highest nutrient uptake, and strongest mitigation of salt stress, accompanied by reduced transpiration and abscisic acid levels. These outcomes demonstrate that blending specific micronutrient and mineral nanoparticles in soil can alleviate salinity-induced damage and enhance potato harvests.
Soil salinity is a widespread environmental challenge that limits agricultural productivity and threatens food security, especially for staple crops like potatoes. Demonstrating that specific nanoparticle formulations can protect crops in salt-affected soils provides a practical approach to sustaining agricultural yields on marginal lands. This can help farmers maintain viable harvests and support food supplies in regions where soil degradation and salinity restrict conventional farming.
This research provides applied and tested field evidence for agronomists, fertiliser manufacturers, and potato growers managing saline or degraded soils. The findings could inform the development of specialised, multi-nutrient nano-fertiliser soil amendments designed to boost crop tolerance. Because the trials were completed in open-field conditions rather than strictly controlled greenhouses, the methodology is relatively close to commercial testing, though formulation scaling and cost-benefit assessments would be required next.
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Salinity stress is a severe environmental stress that affects plant growth and productivity of potato, a strategic crop moderately sensitive to saline soils. Limited studies are available on the use of combined nano-micronutrients to ameliorate salinity stress in potato plants (Solanum tuberosum L.). Two open field experiments were conducted in salt-affected sandy soil to investigate plant growth, physiology, and yield of potato in response to soil salinity stress under single or combined application of Zn, B, Si, and Zeolite nanoparticles. It was hypothesized that soil application of nanoparticles enhanced plant growth and yield by alleviating the adverse impact of soil salinity. In general, all the nano-treatments applications significantly increased plant height, shoot dry weight, number of stems per plant, leaf relative water content, leaf photosynthetic rate, leaf stomatal conductance, chlorophyll content, and tuber yield, as compared to the untreated control. Furthermore, soil application of these treatments increased the concentration of nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Zn, and B) in plant tissues, leaf proline, and leaf gibberellic acid hormone (GA3) in addition to contents of protein, carbohydrates, and antioxidant enzymes (polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) in tubers. Compared to other treatments, the combined application of nanoparticles showed the highest plant growth, physiological parameters, endogenous elements (N, P, K, Ca, Zn, and B) and the lowest concentration of leaf abscisic acid (ABA) and transpiration rate. The present findings suggest that soil addition of the aforementioned nanoparticles can be a promising approach to improving crop productivity in salt-affected soils.
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DOI: 10.3390/agronomy10010019
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