Specialists from the Institute of Macromolecular Compounds (IVS) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which at the beginning of 2023 became part of the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”, together with the Agrophysical Research Institute, within the framework of a project of the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), synthesized a polymer gel that stimulates plant growth in the early stages of development . This increases the productivity and quality of crops.
Scientists have proposed using a material for this that has a high ability to absorb water and minerals necessary for the growth of crops.
“When developing substrates for growing plants, it is important that they do not have a negative effect on the plant, have a porous structure and the ability to retain water. The gel we obtained exhibits all these properties under experimental conditions. It absorbs water, but does not spread and retains its shape,” said Svetlana Laishevkina, junior researcher at the IVS RAS.
As she explained, in essence, a hydrogel is a three-dimensional network in which polymer chains are connected by chemical or physical cross-links. By controlling their density, you can control the amount of water that the substance absorbs: the higher their density, the lower the degree of swelling of the gel.
Experiments have shown that being in such an environment has a good effect on the growth of crops. Experiments on lettuce seeds demonstrated an increase in the fresh weight of seedlings compared to control samples obtained without the use of a gel.
Read more in the exclusive material of Izvestia on Friday, February 9, at 10:00
Make the most of it: hydrogel will improve the quality of the crop
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