Significance of Phosphate Nano-Fertilizers Foliar Application: A Brief Real-Field Study of Quantitative, Physiological Parameters, and Agro-Ecological Diversity in Sunflower
Dávid Ernst,
Marek Kolenčík,
Martin Šebesta,
Ľuba Ďurišová,
Samuel Kšiňan,
Lenka Tomovičová,
Nikola Kotlárová,
Mária Kalúzová,
Ivan Černý,
Gabriela Kratošová,
Veronika Žitniak Čurná,
Jana Ivanič Porhajašová,
Mária Babošová,
Edmund Dobročka,
Yu Qian,
Sasikumar Swamiappan,
Ramakanth Illa,
Shankara Gayathri Radhakrishnan,
B. Ratna Sunil,
Ladislav Ducsay
Affiliations
Dávid Ernst
Institute of Agronomic Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Marek Kolenčík
Institute of Agronomic Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Martin Šebesta
Institute of Laboratory Research on Geomaterials, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská Dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 84215 Bratislava, Slovakia
Ľuba Ďurišová
Institute of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Samuel Kšiňan
Institute of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Lenka Tomovičová
Institute of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Nikola Kotlárová
Institute of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Mária Kalúzová
Institute of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Ivan Černý
Institute of Agronomic Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Gabriela Kratošová
Nanotechnology Centre, CEET, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15/2172, 70800 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Veronika Žitniak Čurná
Institute of Agronomic Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Jana Ivanič Porhajašová
Institute of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Mária Babošová
Institute of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
Edmund Dobročka
Institute of Electrical Engineering, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84104 Bratislava, Slovakia
Yu Qian
School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, 2 Cuihubei Lu, Kunming 650091, China
Sasikumar Swamiappan
Department of Chemistry, VIT University, Vellore 632014, India
Ramakanth Illa
Department of Chemistry, School of Advanced Sciences, VIT-AP University, Amaravati 522237, India
Shankara Gayathri Radhakrishnan
Department of Chemistry, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
B. Ratna Sunil
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bapatla Engineering College, Bapatla 522101, India
Ladislav Ducsay
Institute of Agronomic Sciences, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia
One of the challenges in agriculture practices is guaranteeing an adequate and bioavailable phosphorus supply for plants on phosphorus-deficient soils. A promising alternative lies in the utilization of phosphate nano-fertilizers (NFs) through spray applications. Therefore, this short-term study aimed to investigate the yet undetermined widespread impact of P-NFs on crops characterized by broad leaves, an intensive rate of photosynthesis, and belonging to the oilseed plant, sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). To achieve this, NFs were applied at lower concentrations of various phosphate-based NFs, including (i) nano-hydroxylapatite (nano-Hap) and (ii) a mixture of nano-calcium zinc phosphate and macro-sized parascholzite (nano/macro-ZnPhos), in comparison to the NF-free control. The study was carried out under authentic field conditions during the 2022 vegetation season at the Dolná Malanta site within the Central European Region. The empirical evidence presented herein indicates that the utilization of biocompatible and bioactive nano-Hap, initially engineered for biomedical applications, and nano/macro-ZnPhos, now foliarly applied at reduced concentrations, elicited a statistically significant elevation in quantitative parameters and seasonal physiological responses. The parameters analyzed included head diameter, dry head weight, seed yield per hectare, nutritional seed oiliness, etc. as well as the physiological normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), stomatal conductance index (Ig), and crop water stress index (CWSI). In terms of agro-ecological terrestrial bio/diversity, it was evident that the nano/macro-ZnPhos was the most hospitable variant for the terrestric insect community, but surprisingly, the agronomically more popular nano-Hap showed only statistically insignificant changes in the diversity of the detected communities. However, the relevance of outcomes highlighted using nano-fertilizers, supporting the concept of precision and sustainable agriculture under field conditions.
