Chinese scientists boost research on agricultural nano-drugs

BEIJING - The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) on Friday launched a major scientific research project on the targeted delivery mechanism of agricultural nano-drugs and the creation of new products.

The CAAS has obtained a number of independent intellectual property rights in the design principle, synergistic mechanism, preparation technology and process integration of agricultural nano-drugs. This provided the basic conditions for large-scale industrial development, said Hao Zhiqiang, an official with the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture under the CAAS.

The research aims to improve the effectiveness and safety of agricultural drugs and realize the industrialization of agricultural nano-drugs through industry-university-research cooperation, said Cui Haixin, a researcher at the Institute.

A nanometer (nm) is a unit of length that is one billionth of a meter. Nanotechnology studies the properties and applications of materials with structural sizes in the range of 1 nm to 100 nm.

Agricultural nano-drugs include nano-pesticides, veterinary drugs and animal vaccines. Using nano-technology to create high-efficiency and low-residue nano-pesticides has become the trend in green pesticides.