The scientists of NSTU NETI in collaboration with the Institute of Organic Synthesis (Yekaterinburg), create for farmers a safe biogel able to retain water during a drought. The gel can also deliver and transport biofertilizers.
Laboratory testing of the gel on the soil is currently underway. Scientists have placed some types of useful soil bacteria and put them in the soil; the bacteria feel good in the gel. The demand for such a biogel has already been formed: there are regions in Russia (Khakassia, Buryatia, and Krasnodar Krai) where it is almost impossible to grow even lawn grass due to the soil structure.
"The gel works as a buffer zone from which bacteria can slowly enter the soil. These useful microorganisms can enter directly into cells and improve plant immunity against insects, parasites, and fungi," says Ekaterina Litvinova, Candidate of Biological Sciences, head of the research group.
Water-retaining biogel is very much expected in sheep farms near Samarkand, where the desert turns green only every 5–7 years. To grow fine-wool sheep, they need certain plants in the diet of these animals to achieve the high quality of the wool. The use of biogel in this region can return these plants to the territory and extend their life cycle.
Another task that farmers would very much like to solve is the preservation of beneficial bacterial colonies between growing seasons. According to the standards of agricultural land use, after each harvest , the fields must be treated with pesticides. The use of pesticides is an effective way to clean the soil of everything harmful, but, unfortunately, the useful also dies. Biogel can become a kind of house in which beneficial bacteria are safely stored before treating the fields. In a nutritious gel environment, they wait for the field to rest, and then "come out" with the beginning of the next cultivation season.
"The structure of the biogel can affect the rate of water release. We can predict this structure using various methods of gel production. We can use the cryogenic or thermal method, add acids or alkalis, and so on. For example, now we are testing a gel that has already withstood 14 cycles of absorption and release. This one is just a candidate for retaining water in the soil, such a long term sponge," Ekaterina Litvinova said.
Today, some private farms in the Krasnodar Krai are testing modifications of biogel that help retain fertilizers in the upper soil layer. There are such soils that very quickly let everything flow down; so, fertilizers stay available to the roots until the first rain or watering, and then become inaccessible to the plants. The gel works as a battery of biofertilizers. Accumulation can restore the fertility of the upper layer in about 3–4 years.
The immediate prospect of the laboratory's development is to introduce into the gel the existing large collection of antifungal, growth-stimulating, antiviral, and insecticidal microorganisms. The targeted application of them into the soil within the gel can multiply their effect on growth and yield in comparison with traditional methods. The project is implemented within the federal program of the Ministry of Education and Science "Priority 2030" (national project "Science and Universities") under the strategic project "New engineering solutions and artificial intelligence for biomedicine".