Saline-alkali soils pair drought with high salts, causing rapid dry‑down, weak roots, and nutrient loss. Conventional SAPs lose swelling in briny profiles, so they can’ t buffer moisture. What’ s needed is a salt-tolerant water-retention solution that keeps swelling and supplies slow‑release moisture across drying cycles.
Soil salinization is a widespread land degradation threat: about 10% of global land is saline, and roughly 1.13 billion hectares face saline-alkali stress, costing an estimated $27.3 billion annually in lost food production. Because drought and rapid evaporation drive salt accumulation, improving soil water retention is a direct, effective way to slow salinization. Conventional SAPs can hold 300-800x their weight in water but often fail in saline-alkali soils due to poor salt tolerance. Salt-tolerant SAPs overcome this limitation, maintaining swelling and delivering long-lasting water retention to stabilize crops in harsh conditions.
Salt-tolerant SAPs retain high swelling under saline conditions, enabling slow-release moisture and sustained water retention (validated up to 28 days), improving soil moisture regimes and crop resilience.
Case study (Xinjiang, China) — Cotton on saline–alkali sandy soil
Crop/Plant: Cotton
Location: Xinjiang, China
Objective: Mitigate drought stress and increase yield
Site conditions: Sandy soil, low fertility, severe water and fertilizer loss; pH 7.1–8.5
Product: SOCO® Soil Hydrogel
Application: Dry application, ~75 kg/ha
Integrated value points + quantified outcomes
Salt-tolerant performance: Maintains strong swelling and water storage under high salinity; supports slow, steady water release and 28-day retention in saline-alkali soil.
Moisture buffering and nutrient hold: Forms root-zone “micro-reservoirs” that reduce evaporative loss and improve fertilizer residence near roots in leaching-prone sandy profiles.
Plant response (field observations): Stronger mid-to late-season growth, greener leaves, vigorous branching; more and better-filled cotton bolls.
Yield impact: Final cotton yield increased by 28.1% versus untreated control at ~75 kg/ha.
Practicality: Dry banded/incorporated use fits standard field operations; effective across pH 7.1-8.5 typical of saline–alkali soils.
Field results show that salt-tolerant SAPs sustain swelling and slow-release moisture under saline conditions, building micro-reservoirs that buffer drought, hold nutrients near roots, and translate into stronger mid-to late-season growth and measurable yield gains—without disrupting standard field operations. For saline-alkali sites spanning pH 7-9 and leaching-prone sands, they extend hydrogel benefits across multiple drying cycles and offer a practical pathway to recover productivity and resilience at scale.
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