Hydrogel Agriculture

For any developing nation, Agriculture has a major stand in its economy. It manages the food security for the ever increasing population and provides a source of hand to mouth for a number of people based in rural areas. Irrigation practices has changed over the years with change in farming technologies, selected outputs and input materials depending upon soil conditions and climate but still there are places which follow age old conventional style of farming which not only reduces the effective use of water but also limits the available resources.

Today’s farming style has changed from what can be grown to what is economical to grow.

Catastrophes like water scarcity, soil infertility, irregular rainfall opens the gate to drought, monetary loss, price inflation, lesser production and farmer misery. These problems have been rising up recently in huge numbers and we don’t have a concrete solution as of now. What we have are technologies by which their adversity can be somewhat neutralized. One of them or rather feasible and cheaper of them, is the application of hydrogel on agricultural fields. This unique formulation solves the water related problem up to a large extent, upgrading the soil texture.

How? Upon its application, it mixes up with soil particles and swells up on contact with water. This swelling up of hydrogel behaves like a small packets of water and imparts water retaining property to the roots of the plants. As soon as the conditions become dry, it starts releasing water molecules, which can be directly accessed by them which will ensure uninterrupted water supply and normal growth.

Hydrogels are super absorbent polymers having cross-linking molecular structure with a hydrophilic group attached, which absorbs water to about 500-600 times of its own weight. It acts as a water reservoir for plants, it traps irrigation and rain water which can be released later at the time of requirement over prolonged durations. Hydrogel polymer also absorbs nutrients from the soil which are utilized by plants for carrying out various physiological processes. One of the major advantages of hydrogel is that it can be used on a wide variety of soils. Water Hydrogel polymer does not alter the chemical composition of soils on which it is applied, nor does it impair the action of applied biocides viz. fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, etc. These superabsorbent polymers are based on Polyacrylamide. Water gets into this polymeric cross link network via osmosis. Hydrogel polymers are effective even at high temperature in arid and semi-arid areas.

Using hydrogel in irrigational field will ensure following guaranteed results:

• Significant increase in water retaining ability
• Efficient usage of water
• Increase in soil permeability and infiltration rate
• Decrease in irrigation frequency
• Increase in plant performance, particularly in areas prone to drought
• Reduction of using fertilizers and pesticides

Farmers will have a sigh of relief even if half of the above points are consummated, ensuring good monetary benefits under limited or rather same resources. Chemtex Speciality Limited is an esteemed manufacturer of "Alsta Hydrogel", a potassium polyacrylate based super absorbent polymer that meets the standard requirement of agricultural sectors.

For more information, Kindly visit www.hydrogelagriculture.com

The name Chemtex depicts Chemical Technology Experts. The early 1970s saw the foundation of Chemtex. And in the following decades, it expanded with its variety of indigenous chemicals and industries catered.