The Application of Hydrogel in Agriculture for Reducing High Pumping of Irrigation Water in Algeria

Abstract

The application of hydrogel in agriculture has gained a wide interest in the last decades due to the great benefits that it has provided to this sector. In Algeria, agriculture suffers from two main issues: water shortage and climate change, especially in the south of the country (Sahara), which is classified within the arid and semi-arid regions, where irrigation is based exclusively on groundwater. This paper presents an experiment of hydrogel application in agricultural soil for reducing overexploitation of groundwater used for irrigation. Hydrogels are super absorbent polymers. They are biodegradable and have the ability to absorb and retain a large amount of water. The aim of this work is to evaluate the effect of hydrogel on the efficiency of soil moisture retention through treating sandy soil with different doses of hydrogel. The results indicate that the application of hydrogel can increase the water retaining capacity of sandy soil up to 40%.