Source: WEST TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
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
ACTIVE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1029895
Grant No.
2023-67021-39755
Cumulative Award Amt.
$609,290.00
Proposal No.
2022-08628
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Apr 1, 2023
Project End Date
Mar 31, 2027
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[A1511]- Agriculture Systems and Technology: Nanotechnology for Agricultural and Food Systems
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
10%
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 04/01/24 to 03/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:The project targets the following audiences: environmental and agricultural scientisits who are interested in applying nanotechnology to enhance agricultural production andthe rice growers who are interested in adopting new technologies to enhance rice production. The first group of audience is mainly approached through our peer-reviewed publications and professional presentations. The second group of audience is approached through our attendance on the annual rice growers meeting in Texas. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided opportunities for two PhDstudents. One is affiliated with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the other is affiliated with Crop and Soil Sciences, both are at Texas A&M University. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated through multiple venues. Two presentations in professional conferences were delivered that allow us to reach to both academic and industrial professionals interested in applying nanotechnology to price production. Our project has been shared in the annual meeting of Texas Rice Growers. In addition, we have submitted a manuscript to Soil and Environmental Sciences which allow us to reach other peers through peer-reviewed publication. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we will complete Objective 1 and prepared at least one manuscript on the impact of zinc oxide nanoparticles and its transformed products on soil health. We will also aim to complete Objective 2 which examined the impact of zinc oxide nanoparticles and transformed products on rice yield and quality growing in two soils, one Zn sufficient and one Zn deficient. In addition to the greenhouse studies, we will perform a pilot study to evaluate the rice growth in natural conditions after Zn fertilizer. For Objective 3, our goal is to complete to more generations of rice growth in the greenhouse in the next reporting period. For Objective 4, we have three sub-tasks and our goal is to complete at least one of them, namely, using machine learning models to establish the interconnections of different soil health parameters that a few easily measurable parameters may be used to indicate the overall soil health.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: Understand the impact of two common ENPs, their bulk and ionic forms, and their transformed products on essential chemical and biological parameters of rice paddy soils; We have completed the major task of this objective on ZnO NPs and its transformed products. More detailed characterization of the particle and transformed products was complete and their impact on soil health, as indicated by the activity of four important enzymes involving C,N and P cycling was investigated. Based on the TEM images and elemental mapping, the average size of these three nanoparticles are 21.6, 84.6 and 140.8 nm, respectively. We performed X-ray diffraction on all three nanoparticles and confirmed the successful synthesis of zinc phosphate. Interestingly, in the zinc sulfite nanoparticles, we observed a core shell structure which contained a zinc oxide nanoparticle core and zinc sulfite shell. We completed the evaluation of these nanoparticles and zinc ion on the activities of four enzymes in soil, related to C, N and P cycling. The four enzymes monitored in our study included Dehyrogenease, D-glucosidase, Urease and Acid phosphtase. We also assessed the impact of zinc oxide nanoparticles and its transformed products on these enzymatic activities in simulated rice rhizosphere. In general, the enzyme activities are greater in rhizosphere soil than in bulk soil as expected. Inthe bulk soil, the impact of introduced nanoparticles on soil enzymatic activities dissappeared after five days, suggesting that these nanoparticles did not cause long term disturbance on enzyme activities in the bulk soil. In contrast, some impacts were observed even after 30 days in the rhizosphere soil. Most notably, the zinc phosphate nanoparticle demonstrated a continuous negative effect on the activity of acid phosphtase. Because zinc phosphate is a typical product of zinc oxide nanoparticles and phosphate, our results suggest that sustainable application of zinc oxide needs to be coordinated with nutrient managment to avoid unexpected negative effect. Objective 2: Evaluate the impact of two ENPs, their bulk and ionic forms, and their transformed products on rice growth, grain yield, and quality in one life cycle; We have conducted detailed greenhouse studies exposing rice seedlings to different Zn amendments. During the study, plant growth and rice grain yield were detected. Briefly, different zinc amendments did not show noticeable effect on rice biomass growth. However, they did impact the grain yield. Interestingly, zinc sulfate, the conventional zinc fertilizer, led to greatest rice yield and zinc oxide nanoparticle resulted in slightly lower yield compared to the control. The transformed products did not negatively affect rice yield compared with the zinc oxide nanoparticles. We further examined the grain filling ratios from different treatments and our results showed that zinc oxide nanoparticles and its transformed products decreased the filling rate of grains. It is important to note that this study was performed with Beaumont soil which has sufficient Zn in soil. We are in the process to evaluate how soil zinc levels may affect the outcome by using Eagle Lake soil which is known for Zn deficiency. Objective 3: Determine the long-term, multi-generational impact of two ENPs, their bulk and ionic forms, and their transformed products on soil health, rice grain yield, and quality; We have completed the first generation of exposure of rice to different Zn amendments as indicated above. We are in the process to grow the second generation. Objective 4: Develop machine learning-based models to elucidate the interconnections between different soil properties and the impact of concerned agrichemicals on soil health and rice production. A graduate student recruited to this project has taken a machine learning course and will start compiling data to address our major questions under this objective using machine learnign tools.

Publications


    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.