Читать книгу Sustainable Nanotechnology - Группа авторов - Страница 67

Pheromones are a chemical substance generally released by female insects in the environment to attract male insects. Now, these pheromones are used in farm to protect crops from insects and as an alternative to chemical hazards of insecticide to soil. Generally, these pheromones are spread in the farm to prevent mating of insects, thus ultimately reducing their population by confusing male insects [66]. Hellmann et al. have studied the use of nanofibers as carriers using polyamides and cellulose acetate for pheromones. The ideal requirement of nanofibers for this purpose is high porosity and large surface. It was observed that solubility of pheromones is higher in cellulose acetate and gives more loading compared to polyamide nanofibers. The release of pheromones can be observed up to 30–50 days, depending on the material used, which minimizes washout due to rain with long‐lasting effect [67]. Ponmurugan et al. had carried out a study of red root rot disease on tea plant. They compared nano‐CuO with bulked CuO for antifungal effect on tea plant, which is a disease caused by Poria hypolateritia fungus. They found that nano‐CuO gives more reduction in fungal growth with high yield in terms of leaves [68].