Two Indian entrepreneurs in Okinawa Prefecture are developing an organic polymer made from fruit scraps that can retain water 50 times its weight, in a potential breakthrough for farming in water-scarce regions.
Polymers are usually made from chemical components and other ingredients and can absorb water about 14 times their weight.
But Puran Rajput, 26, and Narayan Gurjar, 21 — working as part of an entrepreneur support program at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University — say their eco-friendly alternative can take in 500 milliliters of water per 10 grams, or 50 times its weight, when mixed with soil. The polymer also works as a fertilizer, since it contains nutrients from agricultural crops.