Nanocomposite materials, water sustainability, slow release, sustained release
Agriculture uses 70% of freshwater, globally. Fertilizers and pesticides are the necessary evils of farming, which maintain nutrients in soil, and fight pests; but current practices use them excessively. Therefore, agriculture is also the biggest polluter of water. Hydrogels can decrease water demand up to 50% and increase crop yields by 20 to 30%. Our vision, by integrating sustained release of fertilizers and pesticides in hydrogels, is to achieve tremendous water savings and alleviate water pollution at the same time.
