Assessment of the Effectiveness of Potassium Polyacrylate on Crop Production

Abstract

Water control is a major problem in crop production, particularly in fragile ecosystems such as the Sahel. Water is the most important factor in plant productivity. Many initiatives have been developed in this direction, including all methods of irrigation and water and soil conservation. The objective of this work is to assess the effectiveness of this amendment in crop production in the context of climate variability. The methodology is based on experimentation to statistically compare the natural biomass on a soil of silty-clay-sandy texture, divided into two blocks, one of which is amended with potassium polyacrylate and the other is not. This study showed that the wet and dry biomasses produced on soils with potassium polyacrylate are significantly higher than those produced on unamended soils at the 5% threshold. Based on these results, potassium polyacrylate may be a solution to recurrent dryness pockets. However, uncontrolled environmental testing is necessary to confirm these results.