Using degradable oxidizing additives in manufacturing of drip irrigation tapes to prevent environmental problems

Abstract Lack of water resources in the world and especially in Iran, as well as the effect of climate change has led to savings in water consumption and increased productivity, especially in the agricultural sector. Pressurized irrigation is one of the ways to increase water productivity and reduce water consumption in agriculture. Tape drip irrigation is a pressurized irrigation method that is more justifiable than other methods both in terms of water productivity and water consumption. On the other hand, the use of these tapes is associated with the fact that due to their consumption for a maximum of one or two growing seasons, environmental problems arise due to their accumulation in agricultural areas. Farmers either leave them on the fields or burn them or bury them. All three of these methods pose dangerous environmental hazards. To address this issue, it is recommended to produce them from or with biodegradable materials. In this study, biodegradable additive was used as a degradation accelerator in the production of tapes. After the production of these tapes, they were used in real conditions and during a growing season and in two treatments: below and on the soil surface, along with the canopy and without shade (beans and radishes). After 6 and 11 months, the tapes were sampled to investigate their degradation. The results showed that tapes made with oxo additive began to degrade more and faster than conventional tapes. Reduction of properties such as weight, turbidity, and mechanical properties such as tensile strength at rupture point, elongation at rupture point, Young's modulus, and toughness in tapes produced with oxo additive show more and faster degradation than conventional tapes. Therefore, it can be said that the use of oxo masterbatches in the production of tapes has been possible and useful. Of course, this should be considered from environmental aspects in future research.