COPPER AND SILVER-BASED NATURAL HYDROGELS: ADVANCING WATER RETENTION AND CROP PRODUCTIVITY IN AGRICULTURE

India, a major hub of agricultural activity, supports a significant portion of its population through farming and related occupations. However, the growing population has driven up the demand for food, prompting farmers to rely increasingly on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and other synthetic inputs to boost crop yields.Although these chemicals increase the yield, they also contaminate our environment and have adverse effects on human health. Keeping this in view, in the present work, an attempt has been made to fabricate natural hydrogels using nanotechnology, which are safe for the environment. These hydrogels can not only satisfy the farmers but also encourage sustainable farming. The fabricated hydrogels have been synthesized through chitosan-based silver and copper nanoparticles using leaf extracts of Neem (Azadirachtaindica), Giloy(Tinosporacordifolia), and Bryophyllum(Kalanchoe pinnata). The effect of these nanoparticles has been studied on the seeds of Vigna radiata, and various parameters such as root length, shoot length, surface area of leaves, water consumption, etc., have been studied. The results of this study suggest that the growth is better in the treated plants and less amount of water is required by them as compared to the control.