Editorial: Nanotechnology-enabled agriculture and its environmental impact

environmental pollution. Meanwhile, questions regarding environmental fate, ecological safety, scalability, and long-term sustainability of nanomaterials remain critical challenges that require interdisciplinary efforts. This Research Topic, Nanotechnology-enabled Agriculture and Its Environmental Impact, was launched to provide a platform for researchers to share recent advances, emerging applications, and environmental considerations related to nanotechnology in agricultural systems.The contributions included in this collection reflect the broad and evolving role of nanotechnology in modern agriculture, spanning crop nutrition, stress tolerance, pollutant remediation, nano-enabled agrochemicals, and environmental risk assessment. Together, these studies demonstrate both the promise and complexity of applying nanotechnology in the soilplant-microbe systems.Several articles are focused on the development of nano-enabled strategies to improve plant growth and resilience under environmental stresses. For example, selenium nanoparticles, iron nanoparticles, and silver nanoparticle-based systems have demonstrated the ability of alleviating abiotic stresses such as drought and heavy metal toxicity. These studies highlight mechanisms including reactive oxygen species regulation, enhancement of antioxidant activity, maintenance of cellular integrity, and improved physiological performance under stress conditions. Such findings support the understanding that engineered nanomaterials could function as nutrient carriers and stress-modulating agents capable of influencing plant metabolic and defense pathways.Other major theme in this research topic involved nano-enabled fertilizers and nutrient management strategies, such as sulfur nanoparticle-coated urea, demonstrating improvements in nitrogen use efficiency and crop growth in wheat and rice systems, supporting the potential of nanotechnology for enhancing fertilizer delivery and reduce nutrient losses, while the mini review "Beyond the hype: unpacking the hidden challenges of nanofertilizers" provided critical discussion regarding the limitations associated with nanofertilizer commercialization, including production cost, regulatory uncertainty, environmental concerns, and insufficient long-term field evaluations. Together, these contributions emphasize the need of balancing technological innovation with realistic assessments of agronomic feasibility and environmental sustainability.Environmental remediation and pollutant mitigation also emerged as key topics within this collection. One study demonstrated surfactant-stabilized nanoscale zero-valent iron reduced fluoranthene accumulation and alleviated phytotoxicity in tomato systems, highlighting the potential of nano-enabled remediation approaches for contaminated soils. Similarly, research involving nano-zero valent zinc, biochar amendments, and phytoremediation strategies explored the removal and stabilization of chromium in contaminated soils. These studies illustrate the multifunctional role that nanotechnology could play in both agricultural production and environmental restoration.Moreover, this collection addressed potential environmental risks associated with nanomaterial application. The article examined the combined toxicity of multiwall carbon nanotubes and cadmium on rice growth, demonstrating that interactions between engineered nanomaterials and coexisting contaminants may generate complex biological responses within soil ecosystems. Such findings reinforce the importance of evaluating nanomaterials under realistic environmental conditions rather than in isolated systems. Future studies should be directed to the long-term fate, transformation, transport, and bioaccumulation of nanomaterials in agricultural environments, particularly within soil microbial communities and food production systems. This collection highlighted the growing interest in sustainable and green synthesis approaches for nanoparticle production. The development of nanofungicides derived from agricultural waste materials demonstrates how circular economy concepts may be integrated into nano-enabled agricultural technologies. Green synthesis approaches could help reduce production costs, minimize environmental impacts, and improve public acceptance of nanotechnology applications in agriculture.Overall, the papers published in this research topic collectively demonstrate that nanotechnology holds significant potential for improving agricultural productivity, resource-use efficiency, and environmental sustainability. However, these advances also underscore the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration among soil scientists, agronomists, plant physiologists, microbiologists, environmental scientists, toxicologists, engineers, and policymakers to ensure safe and responsible implementation of nano-enabled technologies.Future research needs to focus on long-term field-scale validation, environmental risk assessment, development of standardized characterization methods, regulatory frameworks, and economic feasibility analyses. Understanding the interactions among nanomaterials, soil properties, microbial communities, plant physiology, and environmental conditions will be essential for translating laboratory-scale findings into practical agricultural applications. In addition, integrating nanotechnology with other emerging strategies, including biofertilizers, precision agriculture, climate-smart management, and circular bioeconomy approaches-will further enhance the sustainability of agricultural systems.We sincerely thank all authors, reviewers, and editors who contributed to this Research Topic. Their efforts have helped advance scientific understanding of nanotechnology-enabled agriculture and its environmental implications. We hope this collection will stimulate further interdisciplinary research and encourage the development of innovative, sustainable, and environmentally responsible agricultural technologies.