Iranian Scientist Uses Nanotechnology to Produce Pesticide for Warehouses
“Fortunately, I got acquainted with nanotechnology since I was a student, and considering that I had a strong interest in the environment and plants, after entering the field of plant medicine, I sought to use nanotechnology in the agricultural industry,” Maryam Shahnazari, a researcher in the field of herbal medicine and entomology, told ANA.
“So I studied more about pests and poisons and their effects and sought to produce poisons that, while being highly effective, have less pollution in the agricultural industry and other industries related to agriculture and are profitable,” she added.
“In my master's thesis, I focused on the production of a toxin in nanometer dimensions which caused the death of storage pests, and I set up a knowledge-based company to materialize this idea,” Shahnazari said.
In a relevant development in May, a group of Iranian researchers succeeded in settling the problem of impacts of pesticides on agricultural products by making standard biocompatible poisons.
Researchers at a knowledge-based company stationed at Tarbiat Modarres University produced biocompatible pesticide formulations, Varozis disease drug, compounds that attract fruit flies, sulfur and tabul to control pests and plant pathogenic agents, pesticides from plant residues, compounds which increase the effectiveness of pesticides, and active targeted fertilizers.
“Agricultural pesticide residues have created many problems for the export of greenhouse products. An issue that caused many products to return to Iran many times and farmers suffered a lot,” Saeed Moharramipour, a professor of Agriculture Faculty of Tarbiat Modarres University and the managing director of the knowledge-based company, told ANA.
“Our company has produced the product which kills the most important pest of greenhouses in the country - the two-spotted tartan mite. We have also registered the pesticide for fighting the citrus leafhopper, one of the key citrus pests,” he added.
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