Effect of green synthesized cerium oxide nanoparticles on fungal disease of wheat plants: A field study.

Recently, there has been considerable attention towards the production of environmentally friendly nanoparticles (NPs). In this investigation, the successful synthesis of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO NPs) was achieved by employing an eco-friendly technique that utilized an extract from the leaves of local plant quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa L.). The synthesized CeO NPs were subjected to characterization using state-of-the-art methods. The prepared CeO NPs contained a round shape with clusters and have a size of 7-10 nm. To assess how effective CeO NPs derived from C. quinoa were against Ustilago tritici, a fungal disease that negatively affects wheat crop globally, a study was performed on two varieties of wheat crop comprised of Arooj (V1) and Akber (V2), cultivated under field conditions. CeO NPs were applied foliarly twice to the wheat crop at four different concentrations: T0 (0 mg/L), T1 (50 mg/L), T2 (75 mg/L), and T3 (100 mg/L). The results revealed that the control group (T0) exhibited the highest disease severity index (DSI) with a value of 75% compared to the other concentrations of CeO NPs on both varieties. At a concentration of 100 mg/L of CeO NPs, the DSI dropped to a minimum of 35% and 37% on both V1 and V2 respectively. These findings indicated that an increase in the concentration of CeO NPs has a beneficial impact on disease severity. Similar patterns have also been observed with disease incidence (DI), with the greatest efficacy observed at a concentration of 100 mg/L of CeO NPs. Our investigation has shown that CeO NPs exhibitd significant antifungal potential against U. tritici which may be a promising strategy to mitigate fungal disease and crop losses globally.