Polymer gels to manage water availability for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under various environment conditions

During the last years, due to climate changes and reducing water availability for crops, special attention is paid to moisture-swelling polymers. In this paper we compared the influence of Russian hydrogel Ritin-10 (LLC RITEK-ENPTs, Russia) and polymer Aquasorb (SNF s.a.s., France) on spring and winter wheats in Russia and Kazakhstan. The effect of Ritin-10 hydrogel on spring wheat Esther variety water supply was studied in a field experiment (Russia, 2011) with the hydrogel dosage of 400 kg/ha and its combination with nitrogen fertilizers (N60, N90, and N120). Analysis of soil moisture during different periods of vegetation showed that Ritin-10 significantly (p