Ultra-thin plastic film is agricultural sector’s new secret weapon Friday, 11 March 2016

A breakthrough in polymer engineering is seeing wide application in agriculture, and has been recognised with the CRC Association’s Excellence in Innovation Award.

The technology was developed a team in partnership with the Cooperative Research (CRC) for Polymers, co-led by QUT’s Emiritus Professor Graeme George and The University of Queensland’s Professor Peter Halley.

The degradable plastic film is ultra-thin, at less than the width of a human hair. It is being applied to crops during the seeding stage, trapping heat and moisture close to the ground to create a greenhouse effect. Particular applications include regenerating native trees and establishing high-value crops.

According to Professor Halley, as the plants grow, the plastic film breaks down in the sunlight, removing any environmental hazards.

“This is a great benefit to crop growers, as they will be able to plant earlier, improve the germination of their crops, use less water and potentially produce higher yields,” he explained.

Additionally, the films led to more uniform germination, and earlier growth.

“Also, many crop specific benefits were seen, such as a wider growing season, the opportunity for a price premium for getting to market early, the ability to grow higher value crops in cooler regions, more efficient use of available water, and increased yields,” he said.

The ultra-thin films have been licensed by Australian company Integrated Packaging, and has been exported to Ireland for the production of maize.

According to Integrated Packaging CEO John Cerini, his company joined the CRC for Polymers seeking to improve the film, in order to make it more sustainable and applicable for a wider range of crops.

“Our collaboration with the CRC led us to a new range of films that give greater control over the timing of a film’s degradation both above and below ground,” Cerini said.

The CRC is also developing a computer-based support tool to help farmers decide when to use the films for a given crop by providing information on the best time to plant, the grade of film product to use, the likely yield and the potential costs and benefits.

The technology is being adapted to Australian conditions and farming practices and to more than a dozen commercially important crops in a series of field trials run across four states.

The new polymer technology has been built on the foundation of more than a decade of research in the CRC between Integrated Packaging, UQ, QUT, CSIRO, ANSTO, Greening Australia, Birchip Cropping and Rice Research Australia.