USE OF AGRI-PLASTICS IN AGRICULTURE

Plastic is attacked from all directions as being a danger to the environment. There is no week without articles in newspapers and magazines or documentaries on TV against plastics as a threat to mankind, sea, planet and our children.

The use of Agri- plastic helps in increase in production with greater quality and helps in reduction in consumption of valuable resources (water, pesticides, fertilizers, energy). Plastics retain carbon dioxide and warm the soil, preserving humidity and reducing the leaching of pesticides and fertilizers. Agri- plastic protects plants, roots, and soil structure. This is the contribution of Agri-plastics to an Intensive Ecological Agriculture necessary to feed the growing human population. Without Agri- plastic, 60% of fruit, vegetable and dairy production would be endangered.

     

Impacts of Agri- plastic on fruit and vegetable production are:

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•          Allowing better control of climatic conditions for the root systems, vegetable leaves and fruit, photosynthesis, and temperature.
•         Encouraging the mulching effect, capturing CO2, heating the soil and preserving soil humidity.
•          Resistance to climatic change, protection against bad weather (rain, hail, sun...)
•        Increasing production by enlarging the harvesting calendar, improving the yield by square meter, and the dried material content, allowing precocity.
•         Improving production quality with a more regular plant growth, and a reduction in rot and waste.
•          Limiting the “splash” effect from rain conducive to the proliferation of fungus at the foot of plants.
•         Increasing overall production by the transferor production from open field to greenhouses and the increasing production per square meter, plastics liberate cultivation surfaces for other crops, 

In most of the countries, for many crops, production is no longer done without Agri- plastic. Some crops have disappeared from open field to be produced only under greenhouses. In some regions (Middle East, Africa...), production is simply not possible without Agri- plastic. If growers couldn’t use Agri- plastic anymore, 75% of the production would collapse for most fruit and vegetable production. But Agri- plastic is not only influential for horticulture, fruit, and vegetables.