NSF Convergence Accelerator Track J Phase 2: AquaSteady - Balancing Soil Moisture, A Seaweed-Based Hydrogel for Sustainable Agriculture

Humanity is experiencing unprecedented global challenges, ranging from widespread food and nutrition insecurity to ever-increasing global populations. Agriculture is crucial in these challenges and essential for feeding our growing populations. Still, it is the biggest consumer of water globally, using up to 80% of freshwater resources for food production.

Additionally, agriculture is accountable for significant soil degradation, leading to the decline in soil quality caused by soil erosion, compaction, salinization, and loss of soil nutrients. Inappropriate water management practices contribute considerably to soil degradation, resulting in the loss of arable land, desertification, and, ultimately, food production loss.

These challenges can be addressed by using natural hydrogels to increase moisture retention in soils while promoting soil health and thereby reducing water demands. In this project, AquaSteady, a seaweed-based hydrogel, will be optimized for use in agriculture for various crops. Preliminary results indicate that AquaSteady has similar water-holding capacity and absorption rates to synthetic hydrogels and that proper application of AquaSteady to soils increases drought tolerance of tree saplings, a finding that not only has implications for agriculture but also reforestation.

AquaSteady is made from alginate extracted from brown seaweeds, like kelp, that can be sustainably farmed while sequestering carbon and removing excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from our oceans. Thus, AquaSteady provides net positive environmental and economic impacts at both ends of its supply chain, promoting regenerative farming practices on land and sea and providing a new market to strengthen and grow the US seaweed industry.

The goal of this project is to develop and optimize AquaSteady for various crops and soil types to balance water retention and improve soil health and crop yields. This will be accomplished through iterative lab and field testing in collaboration with a variety of farmers. A small production laboratory will be established to manufacture and optimize AquaSteady for field tests.

Specific shapes and forms of AquaSteady, including powder, granules, strings, and patterned nets, will be developed to match specific agricultural applications and crops in close collaboration with farmers. The manufacturing process for AquaSteady will be optimized to reduce the use of water and energy, in line with the principles of a circular economy.

The project will build partnerships between academia and both the terrestrial and marine farming industries, with the alginate extraction process being optimized using sugar kelp from marine farms and field tests of AquaSteady taking place at Agricultural Extensions and an array of private land farms differing in scale, crops, and soil types. Additionally, a Small Farm Program will be developed to involve farmers in the project by testing AquaSteady.

All activities, from large to small, will contribute to mitigating the impact of extreme weather on our food system and increasing awareness of food and nutrition insecurity.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.