Source: WEST TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY submitted to
ELUCIDATING THE IMPACT OF NANOAGRICHEMICALS ON PADDY SOIL HEALTH AND RICE PRODUCTION THROUGH COMBINED GREENHOUSE STUDIES AND MACHINE LEARNING
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
NEW
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1029895
Grant No.
2023-67021-39755
Project No.
TEXW-2022-08628
Proposal No.
2022-08628
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
A1511
Project Start Date
Apr 1, 2023
Project End Date
Mar 31, 2027
Grant Year
2023
Project Director
Ma, X.
Recipient Organization
WEST TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
CANYON,TX 79016
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Increasing global demand for food has necessitated the growing external chemical input to sustain and improve agricultural productivity in the past century. However, this approach is not sustainable due to the environmental degradation caused by the everincreasing accumulation of agrichemicals in the environment. With the rapid development of nanotechnology in the past decades which has dramatically changed the landscape of modern science and technology, the application of nanotechnology, or the incorporation of nanoparticles into agrichemical formulahas become increasingly popular due to their high reactivity, slow releasing of critical nutrients which enhances their utilization rate and many other benefits. However, as any otheragrichemicals, broad applications of nanoagrichemicals will result in their gradual buildup in agricultural soils which may negatively affect soil quality and fertility. Unfortunately, the long-term impact of nanoagrichemicals on soil quality and crop yield is still poorly understood even though some short-term studies have been performed, which significantly hinders the potential beneficial applications of nanotechnology in agriculture. The primary goal of this project is to understand the long-term, multigenerational impact oftwo agriculturally relevant metal oxide nanoparticles: zinc oxide and copper oxide nanoparticles, and their transformed products on the health of rice paddy soils and rice yield. Rice is chosen as our model cropbecause it is a staple food crop globallyand a key source of export in several Southern states.Well controlled greenhouse studies will be performed over four generations of rice growing in paddy soils treated with different nanoparticles and their transformed products at different scenarios. At the end of each generation, soil and plant samples will be collected. Critical soil chemical and biological parameters that indicate soil health will be analyzed. For plant samples, the plant biomass, grain yield, grain quality as well as important nutrient and metal contents in rice grains will be measured. The results will shed light on the long-term impact of nanoagrichemicals on soil health and crop yield, a critical need before nanotechnology can be fully embraced in agriculture. In addition, machine learning will be employed to establish possible connections between the properties of nanoagrichemicals and their long-term impact on soil health and crop yield, generating important insight into the beneficial uses of nanoagrichemicals while avoiding their harmful effects.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
90%
Applied
10%
Developmental
0%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1020110202050%
1020110200050%
Knowledge Area
102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
0110 - Soil;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 2000 - Chemistry;
Goals / Objectives
With an increasing role of nanotechnology in advancing agricultural productivity and in society, it is imperative to understand the consequences of intentionally or incidentally introduced nanoparticles on soil health because previous sudies have shown that nanoparticles closely interact with many components of the soil matrix. In particular, the impact of prolonged exposure to nanoparticles over several generationson soil health and crop production must be known to ensure sustainable applications of nanotechnology in agriculture. The overaching goal of this project is to systematically assess the multigenerational impact of two engineered nanoparticles: zinc oxide and copper oxide nanoparticles, their transformed products and bulk and ionic forms on paddy soil health and rice production over four generations. Rice system is selected due to the unique biogeochemistry observed in paddy soil and the global significance of rice as a staple food. Specific objectives include: (1) determine the impact of chosen nanoparticles and their bulk and ionic counterparts on representative chemical and biological soil health parameters, (2) evaluate their effects on rice production and grain quality, (3) elucidate the multigenerational impact of these chemicals on soil health and rice production at different application scenarios, and (4) explore the essential connections of different soil parameters, soil health and crop yield through machine learning.
Project Methods
The project will adopt an integrated approach of experimetnal studies and machine learning. For the experimental studies, we will grow rice in paddy soils collected from atual paddy sites in Texas. The experiments will be performed in greenhouse to ensure that four generations of rice growth can be completed within the project period. At the end of each generation, bulk and rhizosphere soil and plant tissues, including rice grains will be collected. a range of parameters indicating soil health such as soil pH, soil organic carbon content, soil enzymatic activities, microbial community, and availability of toxic metalloids and rice yield such as the grain mass and grain quality will be experimentally determined. Nanoparticles and their transformed products will be carefully characterized. The results will be processed following standard protocols using statistical methods. In addition to the proposed experimental activities, machine learning aiming to establish correlations between different soil parameters, and between soil health, plant health and the grain yield of rice will be performed. For the machine learning studies, an raw dataset that includes both results from our own studies and results from the literature will be established. The raw data will undergo typical data standardization to eliminate outliners and the rest data will be used train and verify machine learning models.

Progress 04/01/23 to 03/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The project is primarily research-focused. Therefore, the targeted audiences are primarily researchers including professionals interested in the application of nanotechnology to agricutlure and graduate and undergraduate students. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has invovled two graduate students, one is from the Crop and Soil Sciences at Texas A&M and the other is from the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (partly supported). a new graduate student has been recruited and he will start with the project in the fall semester at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. This student will work closely with the Co-PI at University of Conneticutt and his students on Objective 4. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results are mainly disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and presentations in professional conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continuing studies will be performed to further advance the four objectives of this project. Specifically, for Objective 1, we expect to complete the zinc study and move to CuONPs and its transformed products in the spring 2025. For Objective 2, we will complete the plant physiology, soil health and rice quality analysis similarly as in ZnONP studies in the summer of 2025. For Objective 3, we will start the growth of second generation rice after sample analysis in the fall.For Objective 4, we will aim to combine the results from the literature and our experimentally collected data to create a large data set to answer the first question under Objective 4, how are different chemical and biological factors are interrelated to each other and how we can properly select most effective parameters as descriptors for our machine learning model.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? For objective 1:The two nanoparticles we proposed to focus on are zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) and copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) and their transformed products. We have successfully synthesized and characterized the transformed products of zinc oxide nanoparticles including zinc sulfide (ZnS) and zinc phosphate (Zn3(PO4)2). X-ray analysis confirmed the successful synthesis of both nanoparticles. I have performed a greenhous test trial that allowed us to optimize the desgin, dosing concentrations and managment. For Objective 2, it isalso currently ongoing because Objective 1 and 2 are conducted simultaneously through the greenhouse study, with Objective 1 focusing on soil health and Objective 2 concentrating on plant health and rice quality. The schedule of Objective 2 will be similar to Objective 1 and the soil samples and plant samples will be concurrently analyzed in PD Ma and Co-PD Dou's labs respectively. For Objective 3, our goal was to evaluate the long-term, multigenerational impact of nanoparticles on plant and soil health. we have completed the first generation of rice growth and we are in the process to analyze the soil and plant samples. the same soil will be used to grow the second generation of rice later in the summer. For Objective 4, we have started this objective by training our graduate students with machine learning models and their applications in agriculture. The graduate students from TAMU/TEES and University of Connecticut will work closely to advance this objective.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Hu, P., Zhang, Y., Wang, J., Du, Y., Wang, Z., Guo, Q., Pan, Z., Ma, X., Planer-Friedrich, B., Luo, Y., Wu, L. Mobilization of colloid- and nanoparticle-bound arsenic in contaminated paddy soils during reduction and reoxidation. Environmental Science & Technology, 2023, 57, 9843-9853.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Li, X., Cao, Z., Du, Y., Zhang, Y., Wang, J., Ma, X., Hu, P., Luo, Y., Wu, L. Multi-metal contaminant mobilizations by natural colloids and nanoparticles in paddy soils during reduction and reoxidation. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2024, 461, 132684.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Li, X., Wang, X., Ma, X., Sun, W., Chen, K., Dou, F. Effectiveness of nanomaterials and their counterparts in improving rice growth and yield under arsenic contamination. Front. Plant Sci., 2024, 1338530.