Chemtex Alsta Hydrogel - Potassium Polyacrylate based Agriculture Hydrogel

Economy of a country, especially developing ones mainly rely on agriculture and its by-products. This territory holds the way in to the food security for the persistent populace surge, solving the problem of their livelihood for the greater part of the individuals living in countryside. The more we have this backbone strong, the more stability will a country have. But the problem arises when three-fifth of this sector’s productivity depends upon a resource which is slowly depleting. Yes! Water. Lack of water prompts dry season, monetary misfortune and other undesirable issues, for example, value upsurge, lower profitability and so on. But adversities of some of these can be curbed down with little help from science and technology. One such is the application of super absorbent polymer which stirs up with soil particles and swells up on contact with water. This growing of the polymer acts like little bundles of water and confers moisture retaining property to root foundation. When the conditions become dry, it begins releasing water, guaranteeing continuous water supply and growth.

Potassium Polyacrylate [?CH2?CH(CO2K)?] n is based on potassium salt of polyacrylic acid, mainly used as super absorbent polymer that has the ability to absorb water few hundred times more than its size. Potassium polyacrylate functions as a moisture retaining agent, forming water lumps on contact with water molecules. The sway that potassium salt has over other salts is its water retaining capacity as well as water releasing function with higher disintegration time. Potassium Polyacrylate have cross-linking molecular structure with a hydrophilic group attached, which absorbs water to about 500-600 times of its own weight and form water beads or crystals. When applied on agricultural field, it can act as a water reservoir for plants as the same will trap the water fed either through rain or irrigational canal. These trapped water gets released after a certain point over prolonged durations and can be a game changer when the conditions become dry and frizzy. These polymers also absorb vital nutrients from the soil which are then utilized by plants for carrying out various physiological processes.

We are going through some tough situations witnessing depletion of some of the major natural resource, water being an important one of them, mainly in arid and semi-arid areas due to insufficient and uncertain rainfall. The demand for clean water is rapidly increasing and its availability for coming time is something that is discussed in every forum of environmental science. What’s more alarming is the agriculture sector which has to suffer, consuming most of the available potable water while the current irrigation practices cannot even cater to half of the grown crops due to varied geographical dimensions of the sub-continent and varied soil textures. These areas still follow traditional practices which not only lower the effective use of water but also decrease the use of available water for crops.

There is another water absorbing polymer based on sodium extensively being used in fire retardant gels, freeze/PCM gel, candles, diapers, incontinence garments, hold and cold therapy packages, artificial snows and all but does not hold true for agriculture. Why? For the reason that Sodium polyacrylate does not release water.

Chemtex Speciality Limited, a pioneer specialty chemical manufacturer presents "Alsta Hydrogel" as a basic, simple to use, environment friendly agro polymer that farmers can successfully use to decrease water utilization without compromising on plant’s health and growth and yet yield rich green harvests even in dry spell conditions.

One of the major advantages of hydrogel is that it can be used on a wide variety of soils. Alsta Hydrogel polymer does not alter the chemical composition of soils on which it is applied, nor does it interfere with the biocidal action of applied fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, etc. Hydrogel polymers are effective even at high temperature mainly in arid and semi-arid areas.

Use of Alsta Hydrogel in irrigational field ensures following outcomes:

• Significant increment in water holding capacity
• Efficient use of water
• Increase in soil penetrability and invasion rate
• Decrease in water system recurrence
• Increase in crop performance, especially in territories inclined to dry season
• Reduction in the frequency of utilizing composts and pesticides, almost nullifying after some time

If we go through the above-mentioned points, it can be easily inferred that these issues can be countered by Alsta Hydrogel Potassium Polyacrylate Polymer which would not only guarantee upright monetary benefits but that too under limited or rather same resources available for farmers and other agricultural professionals.

For more information, you can 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.