As farmers in climate-stressed regions struggle with limited water resources, scientists are looking to the sea for a solution to improve water retention in soil for crops.
The Pratt Institute in New York City has assembled a coalition of researchers and institutions to develop seaweed-based water absorbents that can balance soil moisture, allow crops to withstand droughts between irregular rainfalls, and reduce the need for irrigation.
New Mexico State University is among the collaborators on the project, funded by a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
At NMSU’s Leyendecker Plant Science Research Center near the Las Cruces campus, John Idowu leads a team of researchers studying AquaSteady, a natural hydrogel made from alginate extracted from brown seaweeds. The hydrogel can be sustainably farmed while sequestering carbon and removing excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from oceans.
“The objective of our study is to utilize AquaSteady as a soil amendment to address the challenges of drought and excessive water,” said Idowu, a professor and agronomist in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. “Hydrogels can capture water from rain or irrigation and release it during dry periods, thus making water available
for plants.”
Idowu said NMSU researchers began testing AquaSteady in powder and granule forms in January 2024. The team includes Sangu Angadi, a professor and crop physiologist; Murali Darapuneni, an assistant professor of semi-arid cropping systems; and Israel Joukhadar, an assistant professor.
The team focused its studies on investigating AquaSteady’s effects on soil health and crop growth in greenhouses. It also looked at how crop roots respond to AquaSteady application. The researchers conducted their first experiments in a laboratory at Leyendecker, where they identified optimal rates of AquaSteady before moving to greenhouse and field testing.
“Our laboratory experiment documents the impact of the hydrogel on soil health parameters since the material is an organic product that adds carbon to the soil,” Idowu said.
The initial studies yielded promising results. The researchers found AquaSteady can help double the soil water-holding capacity and lead to a reduction in irrigation requirements of crops. They also found that AquaSteady usage significantly improves soil health.
“We observed a higher population of soil microorganisms and an increased presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the soil amended with AquaSteady,” Idowu said.
To help understand AquaSteady’s behavior during irrigation cycles, a postdoctoral researcher conducted an additional laboratory experiment over the summer to see how the product responds to successive drying and wetting phases.
At the same time, Idowu’s team analyzed additional soil health indicators to further assess the impact of AquaSteady on soil health and examined its effects on the growth of bell peppers in a greenhouse study. The researchers have also partnered with other institutions and seaweed farmers along coastal areas in the United States to conduct further research.
“AquaSteady may be able to deliver dual benefits for crop production in New Mexico,” Idowu said. “Apart from its potential to improve soil water retention, it could also increase microbial activity in the soil, leading to better soil health in agricultural fields. This could be a critical water management strategy for soils in New Mexico.”
A version of this story appears in the fall 2025 issue of ACES Magazine. For more stories, visit https://nmsu.news/aces-magazine-2025.
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Cutline: Adedeji Okunkenu, a graduate research assistant in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University, left, and John Idowu, a professor and agronomist at NMSU, are part of a team of researchers working on a Pratt Institute project to study AquaSteady as a possible solution to improve water retention in soil for crops.(NMSU photo by Josh Bachman)
Cutline: Adedeji Okunkenu, a graduate research assistant in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University, holds soil samples for a study examining the effectiveness of AquaSteady, a seaweed-based water absorbent. (NMSU photo by Josh Bachman)