Rapra Publishing

Polymers in Agriculture and Horticulture

By Roger P Brown, Consultant

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Polymers have been used in agriculture and horticulture since the middle of the last century. There is a tremendous potential for using polymers in agriculture and our fields and garden would look very different if we did not use polymers in them.

This review traces the history of polymer use, discusses the markets for polymers in these applications, and describes in detail the different types of polymers that can be used and their specific applications.

Topics covered include:

  • Crop protection - use of greenhouses, large tunnels, low tunnels, direct covers, windbreaks, shading, and pest control.
  • Soil conditioning - -by mulching is explored together with soil improvement.
  • Water management is another big user of polymers for irrigation and field drainage.
  • Harvesting and Crop storage
  • Buildings, Machinery and Equipment
  • Containers and packaging
  • Miscellaneous uses - identification tags, clothing and footwear, pellets for controlled release of pesticides and fertiliser, garden ponds, labels, seed coatings, soil less cultivation, grafting bands and ties and twine.
  • Standards and Testing - are covered briefly as is disposal and recycling.

    The review is accompanied by around 300 abstracts compiled from the Polymer Library, to facilitate further reading on this subject. A subject index and a company index are included.

    About the author
    Roger Brown is an internationally acknowledged expert on physical testing and quality assurance of polymers. He has published more than 70 technical papers and three standard textbooks on testing. In addition, he is editor of the journal Polymer Testing and co-editor of the newsletter The Test Report. He has over 25 years experience of running the testing laboratories and services at Rapra. Roger is active on many Standards committees.

    CONTENTS

    1. Introduction

    2. The Market

    3. Materials

    4. Crop Protection
    4.1 Greenhouses/Large Tunnel
    4.2 Low Tunnels
    4.3 Direct Covers
    4.4 Windbreaks
    4.5 Shading
    4.6 Protection Against Pests

    5. Soil Conditioning
    5.1 Mulching
    5.2 Soil Improvement

    6. Water Management
    6.1 Collection, Storage and Transport of Water
    6.2 Irrigation
    6.3 Water Holding
    6.4 Drainage

    7. Harvesting and Crop Storage

    8. Buildings

    9. Machinery and Equipment

    10. Containers and Packaging

    11. Miscellaneous Applications
    11.1 Identification Tags
    11.2 Clothing and Footwear
    11.3 Controlled Release of Fertilisers, etc
    11.4 Garden Ponds
    11.5 Greenhouse Sundries
    11.6 Labels
    11.7 Seed Coatings
    11.8 Soil Less Cultivation
    11.9 Ties and Grafting Bands
    11.10 Twine
    11.11 Others

    12. Standards and Testing

    13. Disposal and Recycling

    Additional References


    • ISBN:
    978-1-85957-460-7
    Pages:
    94
    Publisher:
    Vol. 15, No. 2, Report 170, 2004
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