MOISTURE CONSERVATION PRACTICE BY USING HYDROGEL IN AGRICULTURE: A REVIEW

Abstract

Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy. In the agriculture, water is the major resources for crop cultivation in the field, in case of agricultural sector water is the major problem because of onset monsoon. So that less rainfall is occur in the cropped area. Natural rainfall is the source of elixir for crops on the major chunk of arable land. Of the 1.5 billion ha (11% of the world’s land surface of 13.4 billion ha) of cropland worldwide, 1.2 billion ha (82%) is rain fed (FAO, 2005). To minimize the water scarcity problem in the cropped field due to various methods, like moisture conservation practices such as composted coir pith, straw mulch, antitranspirant, hydrogel etc. Hydrogel is the one of the method to maintain the moisture in the cropped field and supply the adequate water for crop growth. The hydrogel maintain the moisture in the field from sowing to harvest of the crops.