Macro-fungi mediated nanoparticles for sustainable agriculture: recent advancement and future strategies

The extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers in conventional farming practices has negative effects on both ecosystems and animals. Reduced usage of agrochemicals is essential to fulfil sustainable agriculture's goal of protecting ecosystems. The use of nanotechnology in farming has the potential to increase the efficiency of inputs while simultaneously reducing the adverse effects on agroecosystems through the proper use of nanoparticles (NPs). Because, bioaccumulation of NPs may case negative impact on ecosystem in term of toxicity. In this context, myco-nanotechnology possesses extensive agricultural applications, particularly in the formulation of innovative nano-agrochemicals. It substantially influences sustainable agriculture by enhancing agricultural output and diminishing the reliance on inorganic fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides along with managing plant abiotic and biotic stress and enhancing agricultural performance. The domain of myco-nanotechnology has garnered considerable interest recently owing to the prospective applications of biosynthesized NPs sourced from mushrooms. The utilization of mushroom extracts is considered significant due to their substantial secretion of biomolecules and enzymes, which serve as effective reducing and stabilizing agents for the biogenic creation of diverse NPs via extracellular or intracellular methods. Although there is a wide variety of mushrooms found around the world, very few demonstrate their potential as nano-agroproducts for sustainable agriculture. Simultaneously, there are concerns that excessive NPs absorption may adversely impact human health and the sustainability of future agriculture. This article provides a brief review of the myco-synthesis of NPs and highlights the potential of mushroom-derived NPs for sustainable agriculture as fungi-mediated NPs. Additionally, this review opens up possibilities for the synthesis of a wide range of NPs based on mushrooms in the future and their application to sustainable agriculture.