Nanocarriers (NCs) that can precisely deliver active agents, nutrients and genetic materials into plants will make crop agriculture more resilient to climate change and sustainable. As a research field, nano-agriculture is still developing, with significant scientific and societal barriers to overcome. In this Review, we argue that lessons can be learned from mammalian nanomedicine. In particular, it may be possible to enhance efficiency and efficacy by improving our understanding of how NC properties affect their interactions with plant surfaces and biomolecules, and their ability to carry and deliver cargo to specific locations. New tools are required to rapidly assess NC–plant interactions and to explore and verify the range of viable targeting approaches in plants. Elucidating these interactions can lead to the creation of computer-generated in silico models (digital twins) to predict the impact of different NC and plant properties, biological responses, and environmental conditions on the efficiency and efficacy of nanotechnology approaches. Finally, we highlight the need for nano-agriculture researchers and social scientists to converge in order to develop sustainable, safe and socially acceptable NCs.

纳米载体（NC）能够精确地将活性剂、营养物质和遗传物质输送到植物中，将使农作物农业更加适应气候变化和可持续发展。作为一个研究领域，纳米农业仍在发展中，需要克服重大的科学和社会障碍。在这篇综述中，我们认为可以从哺乳动物纳米医学中吸取教训。特别是，通过提高我们对NC特性如何影响它们与植物表面和生物分子的相互作用，以及它们携带和运送货物到特定地点的能力的理解，可以提高效率和功效。需要新的工具来快速评估 NC 与植物的相互作用，并探索和验证植物中可行的靶向方法的范围。阐明这些相互作用可以创建计算机生成的计算机模型（数字孪生），以预测不同的数控和植物特性、生物反应和环境条件对纳米技术方法的效率和功效的影响。最后，我们强调纳米农业研究人员和社会科学家需要共同努力，以开发可持续、安全和社会可接受的纳米农业。