assessment on the effects of super absorbent polymer application on plants survival and costs in planting projects (case study: semnan province)

abstract in this study the effects and costs of application of two kinds of super absorbent polymer on the establishment and surviving of seedlings was investigated. experiments were done in the field and on two kind of soil with different salinity (ec: 4.5 and 8 dsm-1). the results showed: the establishment rate of seedling in control was about 40 percent. the percentage of seedling establishment in the hydrogel treatments significantly increased and statistically is equal to the optimal surviving of the seedling (80%). soil salinity on seedling establishment in the same treatments did not produce significant differences. the results were compared with a similar project to determine the costs and benefits. based on the results a 30 percent reduction in water usage per round and 33 to 50 percent reduction in the number of irrigation replicate were recorded. the costs in compare to the normal project varied from -2 to 29 percent respectively for treatment herbosorb® 0.5% and aquasorb 1%. the treatments herbosorb® and aquasorb with usage level of 0.5% caused about 2.5 percent for each one percent increasing in the cost. there is no significant increase in the percentage of seedling survival by using 1% super-absorbent compared to 0.5 percent.