Ensuring the coordinated improvement of crop yield and resource-use efficiency is an important challenge that urgently needs to be addressed for the sustainable development of agriculture in the severe context of global food production facing the scarce of arable land and the high investment in fertilizers， pesticides， and other resources. Nanotechnology provides new opportunities for the green transformation of agriculture， among which nanocarbon dots（NCDs） have shown great potential in promoting crop growth， enhancing photosynthesis and stress resistance， improving nutrient uptake and utilization， and ultimately increasing yield and quality due to their excellent water solubility， biocompatibility， and environmental friendliness. This article focused on the progress of applying NCDs in crop production. It has been pointed out that NCDs have significant effects in improving crop yield and quality， with good prospects for the applications in ecology and food safety. However， there are still issues including unclear mechanisms of action and insufficient evaluation of long-term effects on ecology and safety. In the future， it is necessary to strengthen the researches on elucidating the mechanism of interaction between NCDs and plants and the environment， optimize the technology of cost-effective synthesis and the mode of application， and improve the system of risk assessment and regulation. Overall， nanocarbon dots are expected to provide new ideas and technological strategies for ensuring global food security and promoting green and sustainable development of agriculture.