This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at Radiografía de los films agrícolas en España

Barcelona will host in November, a workshop on this topic

X-ray of the agricultural films at Spain

AMI01/04/2011

Plastics have been used to increase food production and conserve water for 50 years in horticulture and Agriculture: the demands of this market was 2.8 million tons in 2009, according to Andrew Reynolds, director of research of applied market information (AMI). Applications of the film include greenhouses (31%), cushioned (45%) and ensilados (24%). Asia is by far the largest market, followed by Europe.

Reynolds participated in the Congress of agricultural films that took place in November 2010 in Barcelona. To food security is becoming a global issue, the plastics show their advantages in the development of a sustainable and mass production. The International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) indicates that the production of the farms should double by the year 2050.

The plastic is protagonist of the landscape of Almería.

A demographic study of the EU in 2008 analysed the international trend between 2009 and 2050, noting an increase in the population in the North and South America, Africa and Asia with a decline in Europe and predicted that the world's population will increase from 6.829 million in 2009 to 9.149 million in 2050. BSK Plast Pack & Agrarservice und Trade has analyzed this study in relation to plastics: Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are markets relatively mature, Brazil, Mexico, China, India and Russia are growing quickly and want to increase productivity in agriculture. It is expected that in Europe compete growth of seeds intended for the generation of energy (mainly bioethanol) and intended for food. The European Directive 2003/30 argues that by 2020, 10% of fossil fuels must be replaced by biofuels. This will change the demand for plastics, for example ensilados for fodder for animals to packaging for the conversion of fuels. You must Pack, store and carry a large volume of cereals, the new industry and transformers of plastic they will need to adapt to these requirements.

Professor Pietro Picuno of the University of Basilicata has analyzed the environmental aspects of the use of plastics in agriculture: the main use is protection from the wind, hail, snow and heavy rain in the production of fruit and ornamental plants and the creation of a better microclimate for production. In the South of Italy there is an increase in use in the protection of seeds such as vines and kiwis in traditional structures. There is a need of developing tourist regions with large areas of crops under plastic covers with less visual impact.

Plastic waste are another important issue as the plastic sheeting degrade over time. The LabelAgriWaste project was established to enhance the labelling and recycling of used plastics.

Plastics have been used to increase the production of Food and conserve water for 50 years in horticulture and Agriculture.

As productivity increases to the same extent as environmental awareness, there has been a movement towards the pesticides on the basis of sulfide, according to BASF. The sulfide is commonly used as a fungicide for grapes, strawberries and vegetables, and is the first agrochemical for organic production. A study of BASF agricultural films in different regions showed that countries with culture of the plastic such as Spain or Morocco have a higher percentage of films exposed to levels of sulphur above 1,500 ppm. This has led to the need of new stabilizing light to protect plastics, such as the Tinuvin XT 200, registered by the REACH and has failed numerous field tests, including the treatment of films with a wide range of existing pesticides. Films trials have been conducted in plants around the world, such as Zhejiang, Sicily or Guadalajara, and already covered more than 5,000 hectares since 2006. In the range of products from BASF, stabilizers Tinuvin NOR 371 and Tinuvin ST 200 light show better resistance to agrochemicals.

The Congress of AMI on agricultural films will take place from 7 to 9 of November 2011 at the Fira Palace Hotel in Barcelona.

On the other hand, Kafrit Industries has examined the effect of the UV absorbers in the films resistance to pesticides. Studies show how rising from 1,000 ppm to 2000 ppm sulfur levels reduced the useful life of the films of greenhouses in approximately 20 - 25%. Absorbent UV Act by absorbing the radiation and dissipating it as heat, such as transfer of protons in phenolic-based chemical products. In terms of weather simulation absorbents type BZT is degraded more rapidly than the TRZ type I and II, while the TRZ III showed slight changes. The stabilizers HALS were added to various types of absorbent UV, mixed in the process of compounding with EVA/PE films and were exposed to sulfur in field tests. HALS I with BZP failed to 16 months and the best performance was that of HALS II more TRZ III, which showed the least reduction in absorption and lasted 30 months. Kafrit has registered a new demand of the market for 3,000 ppm of sulfur-resistant films.

The brand Nippon Gohsei Soarnol EVOH is used for stretch film for ensilados in agriculture. The material is a copolymer of ethylene to facilitate the extrusion and vinyl alcohol for obtaining barrier properties. The University of Turin has shown that the barrier to oxygen from the standard PE do not preserve the quality of the forage in long-term storage, because they allow higher fungi, as well as aerobic degradation and an increase in temperature. There are significant improvements with a film thinner silage with a layer of EVOH.

Applications of the film include greenhouses (31%), cushioned (45%) and ensilados (24%).

Another use of EVOH in agriculture is located in the films to fumigate, designed to prevent pollution in nearby areas. EVAL Europe (part of the Kuraray Group) is a provider of EVOH market totally impermeable films (TIF, its acronym in English). They are used in applications such as spraying at planting to broadcast, as a barrier to the fumigation in padded, as a barrier to oxygen and the smell in ensilados and to prolong the duration of greenhouses films subjected to fumigation. A TIF film usually has several layers, with a foreign PE, adhesive layers and an intermediate layer of EVOH. The nylon can also be used as a barrier layer, but it is not as effective (FIV film).

Polimeri Europe supplies an EVA copolymer used in coextruidos of EVA-PE films for the agricultural market and cited the benefits of the material in greenhouses and use in tunnels: improved thermal properties, hardness, elasticity, transparency, good resistance to resilience, more durability and fotoselectividad beneficial for the seeds. He is expected to increase its use in this market. A film of greenhouse standard that incorporates EVA includes absorbent grape, HALS and anti-fog additives, as well as a film of high thermal resistance that combines a 19% of EVA with LLDPE, and mineral loads. It has been shown that films of greenhouse coextruidos improve fields of tomatoes, Eggplant and cucumber seeds.

Biodegradable plastics are used more and more padding. The A5004 Mirel material can be used in flat or blown films for padding of 8 to 125 microns of thickness. In field tests improved the field of red fruits and Greens compared to the PE film and it has been tested in plants around the world. Tecnic Japan camp has produced degradable films of high-performance, mixing melting points major and minor bioplastics. The resulting film has a higher resistance than conventional LDPE film. The rate of biodegradation can be controlled in accordance with the harvest.

Clariant produces masterbatch for biodegradable plastics and other agricultural films, including absorbent go, anti-fog and fotoselectivos. The light stabilizers used in polyesters, such as benzotriazoles, can also be used for PLA, although often the PLA does not require an additional stabilization to the light.

Fatty acids, tallow, and silica can be used as agents anti lock for bioplastics and TALC and calcium carbonate can be used as nucleating agents during the foaming. Clariant has 'ok compost' certification for its masterbatches bioplastics, some of which he has developed Novamont and they are pigmented. Kuhne has tested and adapted its machinery to produce biodegradable film. Paul & Co. supplied paper cores for fast-forward agricultural films tested already in tests of simulation of environmental conditions. They are manufactured with 100% recycled paper and glue from natural materials and it can be included in the recycling of paper or composting, according to the manufacturer.

In South Africa, Greencult has developed a type of padding with network for use with melons and other products. The tension by wind causes numerous problems in these seeds, exposing the fruit to too much sunlight.

Conventional cushioning films are too soft and do not provide the climbing plants a subjection to cling, so networks on padding provide more stability to the plant and reduce tearing of the films. The system is patented and has been tested on a farm in Worcester, where a field of melons grew between 15 and 20% more using padded with network against the conventional material.

Plastic padding reduces the amount of water that is required in the irrigation and can also improve the performance of the crop. For example, Naksan has presented data showing that a field of watermelons that uses clear plastic reached an output of 30 tons per hectare, whereas with a padding plata-negro was reached 90 tonnes per hectare. The reflected light of coloured upholstery promotes photosynthesis and prevents pest.

All these trends may be known in detail in the Congress of AMI on agricultural films which will take place from 7 to 9 November 2011 at the Fira Palace Hotel in Barcelona. (www.amiconferences.com).