Development of root-targeted delivery vehicules (RTDVs) for sustainable agriculture and horticulture

可耕地面积不断减少，全球人口不断增加，这就需要最大限度地利用现有的农业用地和资源来提高生产力。滑铁卢大学化学工程系的Frank Gu博士开发了一种可生物降解的根靶向输送载体（RTDV），用于按需释放养分和水分，以维持植物健康。研制这种装置的目的是通过提高肥料、微量营养素、杀虫剂、杀虫剂和水的使用效率，提高大规模农业和园艺的可持续性。已经确定，RTDV可以在不损害植物健康和产量的情况下，减少种植小麦植株所需肥料的45%和需水量的70%。本研究的三个主要目标是：1)优化温室和田间景观和观赏植物生长的输送装置的形状和大小，并将RTDV与市售控释肥料产品的植物生长进行比较。2)。向植物根系输送多种亲疏水化合物。3)不同田间土壤条件下装置性能及退化评价。其他生成的数据将用于将我们的美国临时专利申请正式化为正式的PCT申请。

The constant decline in the area of cultivable lands, and the increasing global population have created the need to maximize productivity from available agricultural land and resources. Dr. Frank Gu from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo has developed a biodegradable root-targeted delivery vehicle (RTDV) for on-demand release of nutrients and water to sustain plant health. The development of such device is aimed at increasing the sustainability of large-scale agriculture and horticulture by improving the efficiency of usage of fertilizers, micronutrients, pesticides, insecticides and water. It has been established that the RTDV can reduce up to 45% of fertilizers and 70% of water requirements for growing wheat plants without compromising plant health and yield. The three main objectives for the proposed work are: 1) Optimize the shape and size of the delivery device for the growth of landscape and ornamental plants in green house and in field, and compare plant growth using RTDV with commercially available controlled release fertilizer products. 2). Delivery of multiple classes of hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds to plant roots. 3) Evaluation of device performance and degradation in different field soil conditions. Additional generated data will be used to formalize our US provisional patent applications into a formal PCT application.