** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** OVER THE NEXT THIRTY YEARS, THE GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM WILL FACE UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGES TO PROVIDE NUTRITIOUS AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE FOOD FOR THE GROWING POPULATION. BY 2050, THE WORLD'S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION WILL NEED TO INCREASE BY 60% TO MEET THE PROJECTED POPULATION OF 9.7 BILLION. HOWEVER, THE YEARLY INCREASES IN PRODUCTION BROUGHT BY THE GREEN REVOLUTION APPEAR TO BE ENDING. IN A 2019 REVIEW, WE SHOWED THAT IN THE LAST FORTY YEARS, THE YIELD GROWTH TREND HAS BEEN DECLINING FOR NEARLY ALL CROPS. FURTHERMORE, DROUGHTS, HEATWAVES, AND FLOODS BROUGHT ON BY CLIMATE CHANGE ARE PLACING ADDED PRESSURE ON FOOD PRODUCTION. THERE ARE SEVEN ESSENTIAL PLANT MICRONUTRIENT ELEMENTS [IRON (FE), MANGANESE (MN), ZINC (ZN), MOLYBDENUM (MO), COPPER (CU), BORON (B), AND CHLORINE (CL)]. ALTHOUGH THE REQUIREMENTS OF MICRONUTRIENTS IN PLANTS ARE MINIMAL (0.1-200 MG/KG), THEY ARE ESSENTIAL FOR THEIR LIFE CYCLE COMPLETION, AND THEY HAVE BECOME LIMITING FACTORS FOR CROP PRODUCTIVITY IN MANY AGRICULTURAL SOILS. INTENSIVE CROPPING USE OF MACRONUTRIENT FERTILIZERS WITH LOW IMPURITIES OF OTHER ELEMENTS, AND MODERN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS HAVE LED TO HIGHER CROP PRODUCTION BUT ALSO TO DEPLETION OF PHYTOAVAILABLE MICRONUTRIENTS. CURRENT AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES TRY TO DELIVER NUTRIENTS TO SOIL AND CROPS; UNFORTUNATELY, THEY ARE HIGHLY INEFFICIENT, WITH LOSSES AVERAGING 10-75%. THEREFORE, INCREASING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION USING CURRENT METHODS IS NOT POSSIBLE. ONE IMPORTANT STRATEGY IS TO INVESTIGATE AND DEVELOP NOVEL NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT EFFECTIVELY DELIVER MICRONUTRIENTS TO CROPS SO AS TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES OF PROVIDING NUTRITIOUS AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE FOOD FOR THE GROWING POPULATION.THIS PROJECT WILL INVOLVE TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH FROM THE FIELDS OF PHYTOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, TOXICOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATERIAL SCIENCES TOWARD THE GOAL OF SUSTAINABLE NANO-ENABLED AGRICULTURE. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO EXPLORE, UNDERSTAND AND OPTIMIZE THE USE OF NANOSCALE MN AND FE SPECIES AS NOVEL FERTILIZERS. THE UNDERLYING HYPOTHESIS IS THAT NANOSCALE MN AND FE SPECIES CAN IMPROVE PHOTOSYNTHESIS, REDUCE ABIOTIC STRESS, AND IMPROVE YIELD SUBSTANTIALLY BEYOND THEIR CONVENTIONAL COUNTERPARTS. OUR EXPERIMENTAL PLAN CONSISTS OF THREE INTERCONNECTED OBJECTIVES. FIRST, WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE TRANSPORT AND EFFECTS OF FOLIAR AND SEED-APPLIED MN AND FE NANOMATERIALS ON FOUR REPRESENTATIVE PLANT SPECIES. THE SECOND PHASE OF OUR EXPERIMENTAL PLAN WILL EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF SAID ENMS ON PLANTS EXPOSED TO ABIOTIC STRESS. LAST, THE MOST PROMISING ENM WILL BE EVALUATED IN FIELD EXPERIMENTS.