Superabsorbent Polymers: Artificial Mini Water Reservoirs in Soil for Agriculture Applications

Anuj Tripathi*

Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India

*Corresponding Author: Anuj Tripathi, Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India. E-Mail: anujtri@barc.gov.in

Received: October 04, 2017; Published: December 28, 2017

Citation: Anuj Tripathi. “Superabsorbent Polymers: Artificial Mini Water Reservoirs in Soil for Agriculture Applications”. Acta Scientific Agriculture 2.1 (2018).

  Drought is the largest abiotic stress that hinders the growth of plant and thus reduces the crop yield. The frequency and harshness of drought conditions may lead to face of climate change. Beside arid situations, the three most common soil conditions i.e. low water retention capability, leaching of soil moisture and high rate of evaporation and transpiration, are the major factors of reducing agriculture productivity. Apart from these, factors like soil salinity, reprehensible irrigation practices, low or overuse of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides also severely affect plant growth, often rendering permanent damage to soil-biota. Moreover, a shortage of water availability for routine irrigation is also an issue for many countries. In addition, with increasing population growth, usable water (i.e. ~ 0.3% of earth’s water) demands are predicted to rise in future. Therefore, finding new ways to improve water availability and its efficient use in the agricultural sector is essential. One of the ways is the change in soil management that can affect the quantity of deep drainage replenishing ground and sub-surface water. The introduction of good soil management practices will decrease the proportion of rainfall that is lost as runoff, which will increase base flows and decrease peak flows in soil and thus reduce the incidence of flooding as well. Conversely, an improvement of nutrient management in soil will lead to higher grain and foliage production.

Copyright: © 2018 Anuj Tripathi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.