The influence of the hydrogel on quality of the soil resources, on the bioecological properties of plants and on the productivity of cultural phytocenoses against the background of arid weather and climatic anomalies

Abstract At the present stage, the process of aridization of weather and climate factors due to global climate change is obvious. Anomalies of aridization appear in many regions of the world, including traditionally sub-humid and even humid territories. Aridization anomalies are especially aggressive in semi-arid and arid regions on different continents. In particular, on the vast territory of the Caucasus Region, the processes of aridization and temperature anomalies in the summer seasons are clearly manifested and limit crop production. Global climate change is having an effect. The altitudinal zonality of the Caucasus intensifies the transformation of climate factors. The article presents the results of studies on the increase of the moisture provision of the crops in the semi-desert and arid steppe zones of the Ararat Valley, and the issues of the efficient use of irrigation water. The conducted studies revealed that the reduction of physical evaporation of water from the surface of irrigated lands in the semi-desert and arid steppe zones to the effective use of water reserves in the soil by plants during the vegetation. To solve the problem, the effects of different doses of the "Aquasource" hydrogel on the intensity of evaporation from the soil, the water physical properties of the soil, and the yield of crops were studied. It has been revealed that "Aquasource" water-absorbing substrate contributes to the improvement of the hydrophysical properties of soils with heavy and medium mechanical composition, to the increase of the available water supply, to the improvement of the hydrophysical characteristics of the soil. The ecological and physiological optimum of growth and development is achieved against the background of the abnormal aridization factor. Optimization of the water-physical properties of soils thanks to the considered biodegradable water-absorbing material allows for the growth of above-ground and underground phytomass in plants. Summarizing the growth, development, and yield indicators of the sweet Nush-55 variety of pepper, it was revealed that the 4.6 t/ha version of the "Aquasource" (irrigable meadow gray soils) was considered the best version in the vegetation experiments, where the yield increase compared to the control was 120 t/ha. Increasing the amount of the "Aquasource" by 2.1 times leads to a twofold decrease in the evaporation rate, and in the case of the low dose, the evaporation rate decreases by 1.1 times.