Hydrogel agriculture technology involves gel forming polymers that are insoluble water absorbing polymers designed exclusively for agricultural use by the late 1980's. They were developed to improve physical properties of soil to: Increase water holding capacity. Increase water use efficiency.
Hydrogels are three-dimensional network of hydrophilic cross-linked polymer that do not dissolve but can swell in water or can respond to the fluctuations of the environmental stimuli. Hydrogels are highly absorbent (they can contain over 90% water) natural or synthetic polymeric networks. Hydrogels also possess a degree of flexibility very similar to natural tissue, due to their significant water content Colorful hydrogels.
Hydrogels : both solid like and liquid like properties, high biocompatibility, Can trap large quantity of water in the network structure (“hydro”),Shrink when dried, environmental stimuli respondent.
A water-absorbing hydrogel, which has helped farmers boost crop yields in areas where water is scarce, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) has been transferred to Reliance Industries Ltd, following an agreement with the ministry of science and technology.
The gel, Pusa Hydrogel, a semi-synthetic super absorbent polymer, has been developed by the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI). It is mixed with the soil on which the seeds are sown.The gel then absorbs water and expands to 300 times its original size. It sticks to the roots of the plants and when the soil moisture falls as the temperature rises, the gel Pusa Hydrogel has been in use since 2012, and its benefits are now being reaped across the India as well as foreign country. When applied to the roots of any plant life, this magical gel allows you to save from 65% - 95% of water used in farming. Its application is easy yet effective. This environmentally safe product can help grow agriculture in extreme weather, whether too arid or too hot. It helps with: poor soil quality, fertilization drought, and desertification. Instead of daily watering, application of Pusa hydrogel reduces the frequency of irrigation in almost all the crops including vegetables, flowers, cereals, and pulses, thus reducing time, energy and money spent on irrigation. It has also been found boon on several other crops such as wheat, mustard, groundnut, potato, onion, strawberry, opium, tomato, cauliflower, carrot, sugarcane, maize, etc.
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