AGRICULTURAL POLYMERS

The need for improving the physical properties of soils to increase productivity in the agricultural sector was felt already in the 1950s. This led to the development of water-soluble polymeric soil conditioners. The latter had quite a short life-span and were rapidly withdrawn from the market mainly for economic reasons. Other polymers such as polyacrylamide which proved to be more efficient at lower application rates revived interest in the field. In the early 1980’s, water-absorbing polymers or hydrogels were introduced for agricultural use. In this paper, both types of polymers and their benefits to soils are reviewed