Nanomaterials for Enhancing Agricultural Stress Resilience

Advances in nanomaterials design have conferred new capabilities for interfacing with plant systems, providing a versatile toolbox for probing and modulating plant responses to environmental stresses with high spatiotemporal control. These nanomaterials-based innovations are particularly important for enhancing agricultural stress resilience as they complement existing agronomic practices by addressing two long-standing technological gaps: nondestructive presymptomatic detection of stress-related biochemical signaling in plants and precise delivery of genetic and bioactive cargoes across plant barriers. This review outlines key design principles, properties, and engineering of different nanomaterial classes that enable their application in agriculture. We highlight recent advances in plant nanosensors, including corona phase molecular recognition (CoPhMoRe) sensors, plasmonic nanosensors that are surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active, and reticular framework-based sensors that enable continuous presymptomatic monitoring of key stress-related analytes such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), phytohormones, and metabolites. In parallel, progress in nanocarriers, including carbon-based nanostructures, polymeric nanoparticles, and functional peptides, has enabled delivery of nucleic acids, growth regulators, nutrients, and agrochemicals across plant biological barriers that traditionally impede efficient plant transformation and stress mediation. Together, nanosensors and nanocarriers are highly synergistic for nanoenabled precision agriculture, where real-time monitoring serves as feedback control for responsive interventions, contributing to resilient and sustainable next-generation crop production under a changing climate. While the practical implementation of these plant nanosensors and nanocarriers still faces significant hurdles related to scalability, stability, and environmental safety, progress in rational materials design coupled with plant interface engineering suggests a clear pathway ahead to overcome these limitations and realize their full potential in the field.