The droughts have given Mexico no respite and everything indicates that they will only get worse in the future. However, there is no challenge that human creativity and research cannot meet. Today, multiple crops are already benefiting from an invention that allows them to save water, make it available when and in the quantity they need and improve the quality of their products: solid water.
Solid water? Yes. It’s not ice, of course, but the name they call a super-absorbent polymer developed especially for agriculture.
Crystals of this polymer capture up to 250 times its weight in water and retain it in the form of a gel, which is placed around the roots of any crop’s plants creating a reserve of groundwater that can last a long time.
To understand the concept, Amílkar Mendizábal, Director of Marketing and Solid Water Operations, proposes this comparison: imagine a glass or bottle that is gradually filled with rain or irrigation water, reserve the water for a maximum of 30 to 45 days and the slowly release to achieve “stable moisture” in the ground. “As the plant needs it, solid water will release this moisture” and keep it where it’s needed: in the root zone.
Superabsorbent polymers have been used for many years in different industries. However, Água Solida decided to develop them to be compatible with agriculture: they will release water according to the needs of the crops, they are biodegradable and non-toxic.
Aim: 80%
In Mexico, the main use of drinking water is for agricultural activities (76%), followed by public supply (14.4%), industry (4.9%) and electricity (4.7%), according to the Water Advisory Council, a civil organization dedicated to this issue.
Mendizábal explains that the use of solid water saves 80% of the (liquid) resource destined for crops.
In addition, explains Amílkar Mendizábal, when a plant is watered, 80% of the water goes to the bottom, where the root does not reach, and the rest evaporates. With solid water, they can “change that waste funnel”. “We can only add 20% of this water and it works as the 100% that the plant needs”, he says.
How to use solid water
There are two versions of the polymer: one for temporary crops such as corn, which lasts for two or three years, and a long-lasting one, which is used on fruit trees that take years to develop. This applies, for example, to the cultivation of avocados and lemons, and should last for five or six years.
In these temporary crops, the proper dose of powder, solid water, is poured into the hopper of the agricultural tractor, in the precision sowing machine.
In the case of fruit trees, a rotor is made and the soil is mixed, leaving the necessary amount of solid water.
A project that brings generations together
It is a family project: the father of the founding partner and general director of the company that owns Agua Sólida, Asdrúbal Mendizábal, was a chemical engineer specializing in polymers at UNAM. “He told me ‘son, the water will run out’”, recalls Hasdrubal years later, and his prediction came true: “we are running out of water”.
His father claimed that polymers could contribute his “grain of sand” to help intelligently manage water. The son took the glove and started the task and, after years of research with the participation of the academy, they managed to develop this product.
12 years ago they started marketing it. Today, they reach thousands of small, medium and large producers across the country: avocado growers, sugar cane growers, corn growers, bean growers.
In addition to allowing better use of water, this solid water speeds up germination by up to 30%, the stems are wider and the leaves more robust, they say.
In addition to a solution to the water problem, for Asdrúbal it is a demonstration of what the Mexicans are capable of. “It’s amazing to see how brutally creative Mexicans are, with a toothpick and a little investment in the right laboratory equipment, we’ve achieved things to the point that we can push ourselves with the main agronomic laboratories in the world”, he reflects.
(Translated text. Click here to read the original in Spanish)
Reference: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
