Agrotextiles: Important Characteristics of Fibres and Their Applications – a Review

ABSTRACT

The global rise in population and growing demand for better and high-quality vegetables and fruits is the main growth driver for agro-textiles. Agro-textiles are the textiles used for crop protection, fertilization, aquaculture, horticulture, and forestry. Fibers for agro-textiles are selected as per the application area in agro-tech. The fibers like, jute, coir, sisal, and hemp have wide applications in agro-textiles. Owing to their price, ease of transport and storage, and longer service life, synthetic fibers are used more than natural fibers in agricultural applications. The most commonly used synthetic fibers in agro-textiles are nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, and other high-performance fibers. Today agro-textiles play a significant role to control environment for crop production, eliminate variations in climate, weather change and generate optimum condition for plant growth. Textile structures in various forms are used in shade house/poly house, green house and also in open fields to control environmental factors like, temperature, water, and humidity.

摘要

全球人口的增长和对优质蔬菜和水果的需求不断增长是农用纺织品的主要增长动力. 农用纺织品是用于作物保护、施肥、水产养殖、园艺和林业的纺织品. 农用纺织品的纤维是根据农业技术的应用领域进行选择的. 黄麻、椰壳、剑麻和大麻等纤维在农用纺织品中有着广泛的应用. 由于其价格、运输和储存方便以及使用寿命长，合成纤维在农业应用中比天然纤维使用更多. 农用纺织品中最常用的合成纤维是尼龙、聚乙烯、聚丙烯、聚酯和其他高性能纤维. 如今，农用纺织品在控制作物生产环境、消除气候变化和天气变化以及为植物生长创造最佳条件方面发挥着重要作用. 各种形式的纺织品结构用于遮阳棚/温室、温室以及开阔地，以控制温度、水和湿度等环境因素.

KEYWORDS:

• Agro-textiles
• fibers
• horticulture
• floriculture
• aquaculture
• mulch

关键词:

• 农用纺织品
• 纤维
• 园艺学
• 花卉栽培
• 水产养殖
• 护根物

Introduction

Agricultural textile is one of the widening technical textile groups that are also known as agro-textiles. Technical textiles are accounted to be the fastest growing sector and it is manufacturing toward high-tech, high-performance fabric designed to present a significantly added value in terms of functionality (Chaudhary and Shahid 2013). Today, agriculture and horticulture have fulfilled tomorrow’s requirements and have selected a variety of technologies to lead to higher overall yields, quality, and attractive agro-products (Agrawal 2013; Gopalakrishnan 2007). The global rise in population and growing demand for better and high-quality vegetables and fruits is the main growth driver for agro-textiles (Mhamza 2020). A few reports demonstrated that approximately 10–40% losses occurred in crop production because of the drastic increase in climatic temperature. This created a driving force in the agro-textile sectors to improve the yield and quality of the crop (Sharma et al. 2022).

Crop protection and weed control are the major challenges faced by the farmers in the agriculture industry. Agro-textiles like sunscreen, bird net, windshield, mulch mat, hail protection net, and harvesting net are used. In addition, textiles are used to protect crops, fertilization, aquaculture, horticulture, and forestry (Palamutcu and Devrent 2017).

Fruit coloring, growth-stimulating materials, transport-oriented materials, and animal protection materials are predominantly agro-textile products (Jaiswal et al. 2012). This sector will be among the strongest growth predictions based on the increase of food production that will be 70% higher than the current level and the increase of global population which will exceed 9 billion by 2050 (Fisher 2013). Unique manufacturing techniques and properties of this blend of agro-textile sector products whose cost is lesser than that of pesticides and chemical herbicides have been emphasized (Shaid 2017).

Nowadays, environmental-friendly materials like plant natural fibers have gained much attention due to their remarkable properties (Vinod et al. 2023). Now, the world needs more sustainable and eco-friendly materials to replace and reduce the use of synthetic materials to prevent pollution. In this regard, the agro-wastes are identified as a sustainable resource of raw material so that agro-wastes could be utilized (Vinod et al. 2021; Vinod, Sanjay, and Siengchin 2023).

Characteristics of agro-textiles

Resistance to solar radiation

Agro-textiles are laid over the cultivated areas immediately after sowing or planting. For such applications, agro-textiles have to withstand solar radiations with varying surrounding temperatures. As the radiations intensity directly influences plant growth, all the shading methods are to regulate the amount of solar energy entering the greenhouse and reduce the solar radiations (Annapoorani 2018).

Resistance to UV radiation

Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) is strongly dependent on the chemical structure of the fibers. Natural fibers like cotton, silk, and wool have a lower degree UV radiation absorption than synthetic fibers such as PET. The UPF increases with fabric density and thickness for similar construction, and is dependent on porosity (Pant 2010). UV radiation induces a range of strong morphological effects in plants, including leaf thickness, leaf discoloration, cotyledon curling, inhibition of hypocotyl growth, stem and leaf elongation, axillary branching, and shifts in root-shoot ratio (Jansen, Gaba, and Greenberg 1998).

Retention of water

Agro-textiles are useful in water conservation and moisture retention of soil thereby increasing the crop yield (Senthilkumar 2017; Sharma et al. 2022).

Protection property

Adequate rigidity, flexibility, elasticity, and dimensional stability are the important properties of agro-textiles (Subramanian, Poongodi, and Sindhuja 2009).

Light weight

The weight of the fabric should be such that it will bare by the plant (Kapoor, Mohanta, and Agrawal 2007). In order to let the crops, grow without disturbance less weight materials to be selected.

Weather resistance

The agro-textile product must work effectively in cold as well as hot climatic conditions. Synthetic fibers like, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, and nylon are widely used (Gangopadhyay 2016).

Resistance to microorganisms

The degradation of the fiber polymer due to microorganisms acting under aerobic and anaerobic conditions leads to the loss of physical, mechanical, and chemical properties (Wang, Yang, and Wang 2003). The product should have micro-organisms resistance in order to protect against fungi and other diseases caused by constant moisture.

Strength

Since, the tensile strength of shade nets can be a deciding factor of their long-term durability and service life, good tensile strength is a necessary parameter for shade net. High tear strength of textiles makes sure that the punctures in the fabrics do not propagate easily (Agrawal 2013; Ajmeri and Ajmeri 2016).

Abrasion resistance

This is required in order to prevent the crops from animals and pests attack (Agrawal 2013). Environmental concern is strengthening over the indiscriminate use of large nets. However, the development of aquaculture has created new requirements, such as nets capable of prolonged immersion and improved abrasion resistance (Fisher 2020).

Flexibility

Fabric structures are considered as a sub-category of tensile structure to allow the usage of agro textiles in varying areas and places.

Durability

Agro textiles for its excellent environmental resistance, mechanical properties, easy process ability, and durability characteristics can improve quantity, quality, and safety of agricultural products (Sabuz 2021).

Fibers for agro-textiles

Textile fibers play an important role in the manufacturing of agro-textiles for the specific applications (Ajmeri and Ajmeri 2016). Depending on the applications, a large number of fibers can potentially be used to develop agro-textiles; natural or man-made (regenerated) or synthetic fibers (Subramanian, Poongodi, and Sindhuja 2008).

Natural fibers are biodegradable and renewable and have neutral CO2 emissions; high mechanical strength, modulus, and moisture absorption; low elongation and elasticity; low density; and generally low cost making them an important economic focus for developing countries (Miraftab 2016). The high moisture retention capacity of natural fibers helps to reduce evaporation and prevent the soil from drying out. The fibers like, jute, coir, sisal, and hemp have wide applications in agro-textiles. The natural fibers-based agro-textiles after some years degrade and act as natural fertilizers (Tosic et al. 2019b). Chemical treatments of natural fibers, including alkali, silane, acetylation, benzoylation, acrylation, maleated coupling agents, isocyanates, permanganate of natural fibers improve fiber strength, reduce water absorption and fiber degradation (Ali et al. 2018; Li, Tabil, and Panigrahi 2007).

Synthetic fibers are preferred to natural fibers due to their high strength, durability, and other suitable properties of agricultural applications (Sharma, Ali, and Khatr 2018). These fibers have high mechanical strength, modulus, and elongation; elasticity; and relatively low moisture absorption. The most commonly used synthetic fibers in agro-textiles are nylon, polyester, polyethylene, and polypropylene (Annapoorani and Saranya 2019).

Regenerated man-made (bio-based) fiber formulations can be utilized in the complete range of textile surface processing, including production of non-wovens, knitted, and woven fabrics (Senthilkumar 2017). With the advancement of technology, biopolymers have found acceptance in medical, agriculture, packaging, and composites (Vinod et al. 2020).

Natural fibers and their applications in agro-textiles

Jute

The intrinsic properties of jute have made it possible to develop different types of agro-textiles suitable for specific applications. Ropes, twines, sacks, and hessian cloths are made with this material (Rahman, Piotrowski, and Carus 2010). Jute can be used to retain soil moisture, suppress weed growth, and arrest the soil loss, thus reduces the manual labor as well as the use of herbicides. The durability can be improved by blending jute with other materials used in suspension of weed growth, soil erosion control, and mulchings. The efficacy of jute agro-textiles has been established in the areas, like soil conservation, nursery seed bed cover, shade over nursery, weed management, afforestation, sleeves for growth of saplings and air layering and wrapping/covering of plants (Choudhury 2010).

Area-wise applications of jute agro-textiles

Mulch mat

Mulch mats are used to suppress weed growth in horticulture applications. Weed control has traditionally been achieved with bark chips, jute, or black plastic (polypropylene), which cover the soil, blocking out light, and preventing the competitive weed growth around seedlings (Bhavani, Mallikarjun, and Sunilkumar 2017).

Jute sleeves

During transplantation of the grown-up plants, jute sleeves are used in order to prevent the pollution to the environment and for the better air and water circulation in the soil mass (Bhavani, Mallikarjun, and Sunilkumar 2017).

Agro bags

Jute has enjoyed a position of importance as packaging material since it had entered the packaging arena in 1793. Agricultural commodities like grains, sugar, spices, vegetables, etc. are packed in jute bags, domestically as well as globally.

Wool

The shoddy wool or even fibers from recycled textiles to be embedded into products like, soil fertilizer, water filters, and mulches (Mussig and Stevens 2010). Wool is a biodegradable fiber and readily recycled with significant benefits accruing from returning to the earth as a nitrogen and sulfur-rich fertilizer (Sharma, Sahoo, and Chand 2019). Wool also helps prevent frost damage to plants and keeps soil temperatures constant (Bhavsar et al. 2021; Gangopadhyay and Hira 2010).

Uses of wool in agricultural textiles (Paul, Sanyal, and Gon 2012)

Wool has better insulation properties under moist condition than polypropylene/polyethylene and can prevent seedling damage from ground frost thus enabling earlier sowing and a longer growing season (Bhavani, Mallikarjun, and Sunilkumar 2017). Needle punched nonwoven wool is used for mulch mats, which allow water to enter into the soil and also act as a barrier to prevent excessive soil desiccation during dry period (Mahmud 2021).

Mulch mats

Nonwoven wool is used for mulch mats. Further, mulch pads provide an organic alternative to synthetic mulches, which would be turned into fertilizer (Bill 2010). The use of waste wool in agricultural crops showed 30% higher yield for tomato and pepper crop (Gorecki and Gorecki 2010; Zheljazkov 2005). Barley plant growth and green fodder and grain yield were markedly improved using coarse wool in agriculture (Kadam, Goud, and Shakyawar 2013).

Coir

Coir fiber is known for its toughness, strength, resistance to dampness, rot resistance, durability, natural resilience, porous, hygroscopic, and biodegradable properties. Among all the natural fibers, coir possesses highest tearing strength even in wet conditions. The chemical constituents have found to be cellulose (43.4%), hemi-cellulose (0.25%), lignin (45.84%), and pectin (Paul and Gon 2011). Other characteristics are their flexibility, resistant to rot, molds, and moisture (Vishnudas, Savenije, and Zaag 2005). Coir never shrinks, cracks, or produces crust. It promotes better root systems in a short time. It is odorless, pleasant to handle and uniform in composition (Annapoorani 2018).

Area-wise applications of coir in agricultural textiles

Mulch blankets

The coir non-woven or closely woven matting acts as a filter allowing the water to flow across its plane and as a separator. It will suppress the weeds and retain moisture in the soil, which will protect the roots from winter frost and summer scorching sun.

Coir bed blankets for seed germination

Coir plant bed blankets are ideal for germinating seeds and have been used in applications like wetland restoration, floating islands, aquatic spawning. Their ability to hold a large amount of water means, roots remain moist.

Erosion control blankets

The mesh of woven coir matting acts as miniature dams and prevents the seedlings from being washed away by rain and wind, facilitating the growth. Nonwoven erosion blanket protects the soil from effective erosion and creates microclimates and mulching action (Rahman, Piotrowski, and Carus 2010).

Basket liners

Coir basket liners are used for hanging baskets. These coir pads facilitate better aeration of the growing media, which help the roots to grow faster and more vigorously.

Bio-rolls

Bio-rolls with woven net, inner lined with rubberized coir pad circular and rectangular sections stuffed with a mixture of coir pith and coir fiber. Rapid root growth is observed using these bio-rolls (Ravindranath 2016).

Roof green mats

The seeds on the coir pads will sprout out and grow evenly on the surface.

Grow sticks

Grow sticks are used as natural support for plant and creepers. They consist of a wooden pole wrapped with a layer of coir fiber or nonwoven felt. The roots of the plant can easily penetrate on the pores of coir pad.

Coco logs

Coco logs are used along stream, river, and lake banks to protect against scour. It consists of coir fiber or coir non-woven pads in the form of rolls and covered with coir nets. Coco logs work as a brake on waves and reduce the impact of erosion.

Miscellaneous applications

Coir fibers impregnated with natural rubber latex and molded into suitable forms, can be used for manufacturing various types of garden articles. Coir nonwoven fabrics have been used for making hanging flower growing pots, which are very much popular in Europe. Coir netting has been used for building net houses that provide ideal growing place for delicate plants by cutting sunlight up to 50% (Ravindranath 2016).

Sisal

It is a stiff fiber and exceptionally durable with a low maintenance, with minimal wear and tear. It exhibits good sound and impact absorbing properties.

Applications of sisal fibers in agro-textiles

From ancient times sisal has been the leading material for agricultural twine because of its strength, durability, ability to stretch, and resistance to deterioration in saltwater. Traditionally sisal was the leading material for agricultural twine or baler twine. Sisal and hemp fiber-based baler twines are used in grape yards for tying. These twines are mainly used for crop wrapping. This is also used in tomato plantations and can also be used for all heavy fruit and vegetable plantations to hold it on its stem or branch (Senthilkumar 2017).

Flax (Linen)

Flax fiber is soft, strong, lustrous, and flexible and coarser grades are used for the manufacturing of twine and rope. Linen fiber is not affected by sunlight as other fibers. Flax products have been used as sail and tent canvas, fishing lines, and fishing nets. Natural bast fibers play an important role as an attractive resource for different technical textiles applications like building, automotive and agro-textiles (Wallenberger and Weston 2004).

Hemp fiber

Hemp fibers have an excellent moisture resistance and rot only very slowly in water. Agro-textiles made from flax or hemp fibers can replace the plastic that is used for the protection of young plantations or as a base layer of greenhouse crops (Rahman, Piotrowski, and Carus 2010). The research on mulches made of natural fibers, which meet the mulching requirements, are mostly produced from flax, hemp, jute, linen, wool, and cotton fibers, by mechanical process on card and bonded by needling process (Carus 2009).

Kenaf fiber

Kenaf can be used as an alternative material to jute fiber for agro sack for packaging and exporting agro-products. Kenaf fiber is used in various agronomical and horticultural applications such as plant nets, harvesting nets, nursery pots and sheets, wind shields, mulching materials, etc. Kenaf fiber agro-sacks improve air permeability and are suitable for haulage and storing agro-products. Retted and processed kenaf fiber is used to manufacture twine, cordage, rope, agro-sacks, and Hessian cloth as an alternative to jute, sisal, and hemp (Akubueze et al. 2014). Kenaf fiber/plastic compounds based on kenaf can replace glass reinforced plastics in many applications, such as food packaging industry, animal bedding and poultry litter, and soil-free potting mix (Ochi 2008).

Bagasse fiber

Bagasse fiber is currently used in various industries, such as the construction, packaging, disposable tableware, paper and pulp, agricultural, and fuel industries. In addition, bagasse contains beneficial nutrients needed by plant growth (Ishak et al. 2021).

Figure 1 shows some of the important applications of natural fibers in agro-textiles.

Figure 1. Jute agrotextile: (a) Mulch mats; (b) Jute bags; (c) Jute sleeves (Bhavani, Mallikarjun, and Sunilkumar 2017); Coir agotextiles: (d) Mulch mats; (e) Net; (f) Bio rolls; (g) Erosion control blanket; (h) Basket liners; (i) Roof green mat; (j) Logs (Ravindranath 2016).

Synthetic fibers and their uses in agro-textiles

Nylon

Nylon 66 was the first synthetic material to be widely used for fishing nets. It should not be exposed to sunlight for prolonged periods as this causes degradation; when net must be dried, they should be shade dried. The material is unaffected by molds and bacteria, so it can be stored wet without deterioration. Nylon resists abrasion very well so it is suitable for nets which are dragged along the bottom. It is widely used for trawls of all kinds, seines, long and also ropes. Staple fiber twines made from polyamides are not as strong as continuous filament twines but they are less stiff.

Polyester

The strength of polyester is not affected by moisture and it does not deteriorate with age, sunlight has little effect on it and it is almost unaffected either by micro-organisms or by insects. Terylene has a very low extensibility compared to nylon. For the same reason terylene ropes are particularly suitable for mounting nets, especially purse seines and grill nets, where distortion would render the nets less effective. Like nylon, terylene may slip when knotted but this problem may overcome by similar means (Jesse 1977). Some commercial products are available like knitted screen for thermal and solar applications used in heated greenhouses and knitted root ball net used in colder climates to hold soil together and protects plant roots from damage during transportation/storage (Paul 2019)

Polypropylene (PP)

The widely used fibers for the manufacture of nets and barriers is PP, as it has good mechanical properties, such as its high modulus and high mechanical strength, low density, and robust tear and cut resistance (Paul 2019). PP has low heat resistance, and high creep resistance and stress relaxation (Matsuo 2008). The use of perforated polyethylene foil and polypropylene fiber covers, resulted in an increase in the soil temperature, which results forced the plant emergence on average by 5 days. A higher soil temperature increase was observed under the perforated foil than under the polypropylene fiber, which resulted in an earlier occurrence of the successive plant development phases, on average by 1–2 days (Wadas and Kosterna 2007).

Some agro-textiles commercial products are available and used in commercial nurseries and greehouses for shading plants; in horticulture, floriculture, garden, and forest nurseries; for overwintering, strawberries, lettuce, spinach; to control of insect pests on potatoes, greens, cabbages, and radishes (Paul 2019).

Polyethylene

Polyethylene fibers absorb no water and are as strong when wet as dry. They do not shrink; they do not deteriorate with age, and are resistant to all chemicals and microorganisms. These materials are commonly used for ropes (which will float) and for trawl nets where the low specific gravity is useful as the net tends to float clear of the bottom. PE is readily dyed while in the melt and most ropes and twines are colored. High-density polyethylene is the most widely used fibers for the manufacture of nets and barriers, owing to its outstanding mechanical properties, such as its high modulus and mechanical strength, low density, and robust tear and cut resistance (Briassoulis, Mistriotis, and Eleftherakis 2007; Paul 2019)

The mulching films are mainly made from low-density polyethylene due to their fastness to weather conditions, their resistance to micro-organisms and their low cost (Sintim and Flury 2017). The plastic residue deteriorates the soil and decreases its fertility (He et al. 2018). The polyethylene black plastic mulch produced the highest yield, and also higher nitrate content. The treatment with woven agro-textile had a positive effect on the vitamin C content in lettuce (Tosic et al. 2019b).

Some commercial products are available like Knitted bird netting (AviGard, Plantra) used to protect cherries, raspberries, and other fruit crops; Knitted shade net (Nicolon knit cloth fabrics, Ten Cate) used in commercial nurseries and greenhouses for shading plants; Knitted crop cover (Mikroklima, Polynet Products) used directly on many crops, winter lettuce, silver beet, radish to protect from cold weather and birds and also useful in small individual shelters to protest shrubs or trees (avocados) (Paul 2019).

Polyvinyl alcohol fiber

PVA/Kenaf fiber composites exhibited good water solubility and controlled release property and were readily degradable in the environment, suggesting their suitability for several applications, such as carriers for urea and as mulches for agriculture (Tan et al. 2015).

Polyvinyl chloride fibers

They are almost unaffected by sunlight and are also said to be resistant to both acids and alkalis (Jesse 1977). Polyvinyl chloride and poly (ethylene-vinyl acetate) (PEVA) are also used for this application, UV stabilizers are typically used in the fibers, owing to the specific expected operating conditions (Brown 2004; Jesse and Dagoon Jesse 1977).

Polyvinylidene chloride fiber

They are used, when the bottom guarding of nets are required to sink quickly. Exposure to sunlight causes slight discolouration but aging has little effect. The water absorption is low, and there is no weakening on wetting. These materials are attacked by microorganisms and they are resistant to most chemicals except certain strong alkalis (Jesse 1977).

Carbon fiber

Carbon fibers variants differ in flexibility, electrical conductivity, thermal and chemical resistance. Altering the production method allows carbon fibers to be made with the stiffness and high strength needed for reinforcement of plastic composites, or the softness and flexibility necessary for conversion into textile materials. Carbon fibers are used in the fields like fishing rods, fishing nets, aerospace, sporting goods, automobiles, wind turbine blades, military, medical applications, and many more fields (Annapoorani 2018).

Regenerated man-made fibers and their uses in agro-textiles

Polylactic acid fiber (PLA)

PLA fiber has proven to be an alternative to PP, PET, or PE because its properties are similar to those of these non-biodegradable synthetic fibers in terms of controlled crimp, smooth surface, and low moisture absorption. PLA is highly resistant to UV radiation leading to no reduction in strength during the crop cycle and it does not creep, keeping the plants standing straight during the whole season. In order to have a full biodegradable and compostable system for greenhouse crops, other trellising accessories (such as clips, winding hooks, and truss) should be produced using these materials (Matsuo 2008).

Photodegraded PP and PLA mulches provide a great increase in cucumber yield (Siwek et al. 2019; Siwek, Kalisz, and Domagala-Swiatkiewicz 2015). Biodegradable mulch film seems to be a promising option for the replacement of conventional PE films for strawberry crop production (Costa et al. 2014). PLA can be produced on a mass scale from agricultural by-products mainly the carbohydrate-rich substances (Nampoothiri, Nair, and John 2010).

Poly (butylene-adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT)

To reduce the adverse effect of PE mulch, biodegradable mulch film has been developed from polymers like polylactic acid, poly (butylene succinate) (PBS), and aromatic co-polyester poly (butylene-adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) (Brodhagen et al. 2015). Yang et al. (2020) have studied a PBAT-based biodegradable mulch on the yield of winter-planting potato, as a potential alternative. Blend of PBAT with PLA significantly increases the tensile strength and decreases the melt index as compared to PBAT (Chen et al. 2016), making it a promising raw material for mulching film.

Viscose fibers

Among cellulose-based materials, viscose is becoming popular for mulching and production of plant seedlings due to its good sorption properties and fast biodegradation. The proposed modification of viscose nonwoven mulches can be successfully used as a multi-purpose and biodegradable nonwoven crop cover, eliminating the problem of post-harvest mulches disposal (Gabry’s et al. 2021; Kopitar et al. 2022)

Lyocell fibers

The wood-based Lenzing fibers are used for the construction of ropes and nets to support the cultivation of marine cultures such as mollusks, mussels, and edible seaweed to reduce plastic. The development of 100% wood-based mussel nets with Lenzing lyocell fibers contributes to the reduction of the annual plastic quantity in the marine environment (Anon 2019).

Usage of the most commonly used synthetic fibers and regenerated fibers in agro-textiles are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Synthetic fibers and regenerated fibers in agrotextiles: (a) Insect mesh - Nylon and PP (source: Azam and Ahmad 2020); (b) Shade net - Nylon, PP (source: Azam and Ahmad 2020); (c) Anti-hailstone net – PE (source: Azam and Ahmad 2020); (d) Frost control fabric – PP (Mason 2022); (e) Bird protection net - Nylon, PE, PP (Chowdhury, Nasrin, and Md 2017); (f) Harvesting net – PE (Hossain 2021); (g) Nonwoven mulch- Viscose (Kopitar et al. 2022); (h) Nonwoven mulch- PLA (Kopitar et al. 2022).

As per the properties required in agriculture, different types of agro-textiles are manufactured from various fibers. Some agrotextile products and their constituent fiber are given in Table 1 (Chowdhury, Nasrin, and Md (2017)).

Table 1. Different types of agrotextile products with constituent fiber Chowdhury, Nasrin, and Md (2017).

Product	Fiber Type	Product	Fiber Type
Sunscreen	Polyethylene	Harvesting net	HDPE, nylon, cotton
Packing material	Jute, plastic, polypropylene	Bird protection net	Co-polymer nylon, PE, PP
Insect meshes	PE monofilaments and multifilament	Support nets	Nylon
Cold and frost control fabric	Polypropylene	Shade cloth	Polyethylene
Weed control fabric	Polyethylene	Baler twine	PE, sisal fiber
Tape nets	Polypropylene	Udder protection net	Cotton, cotton-poly blend
Root ball net	Cotton, polyester, Cot/polyester blend	Aquaculture nets	Nylon mono and multi filament, HDPE
Soil protection fabric	Polypropylene, jute	Fishing nets	Nylon monofilament, multi filament, HDPE
Nets for covering pallets	Polyethylene, nylon, polyester	Ground cover	Polypropylene
Anti fouling nets	Nylon	Fishing line	HMPE, HDPE, PP, nylon
Mosquito protection nets	Nylon	Cherry cover	Polypropylene, polyethylene
Monofil. nets	Nylon, HDPE	Belt	Nylon, polyester
Mulch mat	HDPE, LDPE, polypropylene, wool	Rain protection fabric	Polyethylene
Filter for milking	Cellulose, viscose, cotton, polyester	UV protection sheet	Cotton, cotton-poly blend, PP
Anti-hailstone nets	Polyethylene monofilament	Green house cover	Polyethylene
Plant net	Polyolefin type fiber

Structures for agro-textiles

Depending upon their final use and its requirements, different kinds of textile structures, namely woven, nonwoven, and knitted are used (Mansfield 2005). These structures are flexible, porous, and permeable to air and water, among other properties (Hsieh 2016). The woven agro-textiles are manufactured using special projectile weaving machines (Basu 2011). Woven fabrics are used for ground covers, mulch mats, shade cloths, fruit bags, sampling bags, insect-proof, anti-bird, etc. The woven agro-textiles used in a wide variety of agricultural applications in the product cultivation and protection activities, horticulture and floriculture, aquaculture, forestry as well as animal husbandry activities have an important role to protect silages from bird/insect attacks or damages related to environmental conditions (Buyukbayraktar and Bedeloglu 2020).

Spunbonded non-woven structures are used as direct cover on plants to protect cultivations from rain, frost, or wind. Moreover, spunbonded agro-textiles are used for covering fruits, for bird and insect control. Nonwoven bags have an advantage over plastic bags, because these agro-textiles are ventilated, may prevent fruit from rotting in summer and protect fruit from freezing in the winter. Needle punched fabric for plant bags provides advantages over conventional fired clay pots. Thermal bonding, stitch-bonded, hydro entangled and wet non-woven are also used in agro-textiles. A warp-knitted technology permits a variety of different designs to suit-specific requirements, which makes these agro-textiles useful in a wide range of applications (Scarlat, Rusu, and Pricop 2017). Knitted agro-textiles are used for screens, packaging materials, antibird nets, fishing nets (Nair and Pandian 2014).

Environmental and climate impacts of synthetic fibers based agro-textiles

When synthetic fibers are used in the manufacturing of agro-textiles product, the accumulation of microplastics in the soil can result in adverse effects on crop production (Yan et al. 2014). Environmental contamination by microplastics is considered an emerging threat to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning Van den Berg et al. (2020); Zhou et al. (2020). Soil contamination by microplastics has a negative influence on soil structure, moisture, and nutrient transport in soil, causing root growth retardation and greenhouse gas emissions (Kim et al. 2014; Zhou et al. 2019). Despite the advantages of PE mulches in crop production, the residue from PE film mulch has caused increasingly environmental issues (Sintim and Flury 2017). The accumulation of residual plastic films reduces soil pore connectivity and soil porosity when it reaches a certain level (Hodson et al. 2017), thus interfering with soil structure and soil water movement (Bai et al. 2019; Jiang et al. 2017). Consequently, crop root distribution is inhibited, imposing negative effect on crop uptake of water and nutrients and subsequently limiting crop yields (Hu et al. 2020). Liu et al. (Liu, He, and Yan 2014) reported that cotton yield is reduced by 15% when 200 kg/ha of residual plastic films are present in soil. Yield decreases of 11–13% in maize, 9–10% in wheat, 8% −14% in rice, and 5.5–9% in soybean are also observed when soil contains 58.5 kg/ha of residual plastic film (Du 2013).

Owing to environmental concerns caused by the use of synthetic fibers, there is an urgent need to find new eco-friendly fibers. To mitigate the negative effect of PE film mulch, biodegradable mulch has been developed from naturally polymers including starch, cellulose and polyhydroxyalkanoates, and synthetic polymers, mainly aliphatic polyesters polylactic acid (PLA), poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), poly (butylene succinate) (PBS), and poly (butylene succinate adipate) (PBSA), as well as the aromatic co-polyester poly(butylene-adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) (Brodhagen et al. 2015).

In addition, conventional cellulosic fibers are becoming costly due to an increase in production cost. Some researcher extracted and characterized new plant fibers from Cyperus papyrus plant Leweyehu et al. (2022), Finger Euphorbia plant (Aklilu and Ketema 2022) and Typha Domingensis plant (Ritu, Jose, and Kumar Sinha 2020) and evaluates their potential as textile fibers. The results prove that the extracted fibers have a comparable chemical composition with other conventional natural fibers and they can be used in the manufacturing of technical textiles and composites. Natural plant fibers are sustainable raw materials. For humankind to exist sustainably means maintaining productivity in agriculture and ecology despite obstacles (West 2021). Non-conventional plant fibers obtained from corn stover, bagasse, banana, wheat straw, rice straw, pineapple leaves fibers, etc. have potential utilization for crop improvement (Reddy and Yang 2005). Improved separate textile collection, accurate automated sorting and high-quality textile reuse and recycling have significant potential to reduce environmental impacts.

BIOAGROTEX project focused on agricultural textiles as alternatives to current petroleum-based textile. BIOAGROTEX has developed and tested useful bio-based alternatives for agricultural textile production, some of which are now commercially available to farmers in Europe. For example, PLA-based insect proof nets – TEXINOV, produced industrially knitted insect screens for a physical barrier to insects that can provide problems (illness, destroying fruits) to plants, trees, or cultures (Anon 2012).

Agro textiles market analysis

The global market of the agro-textile industry is estimated at US$9.37 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach US$13.04 billion by 2028 (Sharma et al. 2022). Implementation of highly effective technologies in agricultural industry is anticipated to surge crop yield, and hence, impact the overall productivity. Shading nets segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.8% over the forecast period to reach a net revenue exceeding USD 2.70 billion by 2025. Anti-hail and bird protection nets demand was 96 kilo tons in 2016 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 3.3% over the next 8 years. Further, there is an increasing modernization activity in the fishing sector and also improving fisheries culture has raised the market growth of agro-tech products. The agricultural textiles market in Asia Pacific is estimated to witness the fastest growth rates in terms of both volume and revenue. Increasing industrial land acquisitions in the region especially in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and India has led to depletion in arable land for vegetation purposes. This trend has furthered greenhouse and mulch nets demand over past few years. North America aquaculture production is anticipated to foresee a significant growth on account of increasing farming meat for shell fishes and growing domestic consumption of sea foods. Europe is a mature market and hence the demand is anticipated to be sluggish over the forecast period (Anon 2021).

Conclusion

The global rise in population and growing demand for better quality farm produce is the main growth driver for agro-textiles. The characteristics of the textile fibers play a very important role in the application area of agro-textiles in order to enhance yields and quality of agro-products. The plant fibers like, jute, coir, sisal, and hemp; synthetic fibers, namely, PP, PE, PET, nylon, and regenerated fibers like, viscose, lyocell, PLA, and their blends have wide applications in agricultural products. Synthetic fibers are preferred to natural fibers due to their high strength, durability, and other suitable properties of agricultural applications. However, due to environmental concerns caused by the use of synthetic fibers, there is an urgent need to find new eco-friendly fibers. Textile structures in various forms are used in shade house/poly house, greenhouse and also in open fields to control environmental factors like, temperature, water, and humidity. Agro-textiles products, like sunscreen, bird net, windshield, mulch mat, hail protection net, and harvesting net are used.

Highlights

• The global rise in population and growing demand for better- and high-quality vegetables and fruits is the main growth driver for agro textiles. Use of the different agrotextiles product in agriculture would help farmers for production of quality farm products with higher percentage yield.

• There are approximately 10–40% losses occurred in crop production because of the drastic increase in climatic temperature. This created a driving force in the agro-textile sectors to improve the yield and quality of the crop every year. Textiles are used to protect crops, fertilization, aquaculture, horticulture, and forestry.

• A large number of fibers can potentially be used to develop agrotextiles; natural or synthetic fibers or regenerated manmade, biodegradable or non-biodegradable are used in agro-textiles applications. The plant fibers like, jute, coir, sisal, and hemp have wide applications in agrotextiles. Man-made fibers are preferred for agricultural products than natural fibers due to their high strength, durability, and other suitable properties of agricultural applications. However, due to environmental concerns caused by the use of synthetic fibers, there is an urgent need to find new eco-friendly fibers

• BIOAGROTEX project focused on agricultural textiles as alternatives to current petroleum-based textile. BIOAGROTEX has developed and tested useful bio-based alternatives for agricultural textile production, some of which are now commercially available to farmers in Europe. For example, PLA-based insect proof nets – TEXINOV, produced industrially knitted insect screens for a physical barrier to insects that can provide problems (illness, destroying fruits) to plants, trees, or cultures (Anon 2012).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.