At a Glance
Narayan Lal Gurajar, Founder & CEO, EF Polymer“Our dream legacy as innovators is to make water-efficient farming a standard practice across the world, especially in regions where agriculture is limited by lack of irrigation water and arid areas like UAE.”
The Challenge
In arid and semi-arid agriculture, water efficiency is often framed as an irrigation problem: how to deliver water more precisely, how to reduce losses through scheduling, and how to make every application count. Yet many farms face a second constraint that quietly affects productivity: how long it stays available in the root zone after it is applied.
In sandy and low-organic soils, moisture can move quickly below root depth through deep percolation. At the surface, heat and wind accelerate evaporation. When a meaningful share of irrigation does not remain accessible to crops, the operational response is familiar: irrigate again, and again. Over time, that cycle pushes demand upward in places where water is already limited, tightening farm economics and increasing pressure on constrained water resources.
In sandy and low-organic sEF Polymer targets this exact point: inefficient water retention in soil, where irrigation water can be lost through evaporation or deep percolation rather than translating into crop benefit. In water-scarce settings such as the UAE, root-zone retention can become a foundation for greater agricultural resilience. When soil holds moisture longer, farms may gain flexibility in irrigation timing, reduce the frequency of watering events, and protect productivity during periods of limited water availability.ils, moisture can move quickly below root depth through deep percolation. At the surface, heat and wind accelerate evaporation. When a meaningful share of irrigation does not remain accessible to crops, the operational response is familiar: irrigate again, and again. Over time, that cycle pushes demand upward in places where water is already limited, tightening farm economics and increasing pressure on constrained water resources.
EF Polymer advances a soil-based approach that improves root-zone water retention, reducing water loss through leaching and evaporation so crops can utilize a higher proportion of applied irrigation water. The work supports Al Miyah Challenge for Agriculture's objective to accelerate field-tested innovations that improve agricultural water efficiency in water-scarce conditions.
The Solution: Biodegradable Root-Zone Reservoir
EF Polymer advances a soil-based intervention: a biodegradable superabsorbent polymer designed to be mixed into soil. During irrigation, the polymer absorbs water and stores it “like a reservoir” near plant roots. As the soil dries, the stored water is slowly released to the plant, extending moisture availability between irrigation events. By improving soil moisture retention and reducing water loss through leaching and evaporation, the approach aims to help crops utilize a higher proportion of applied irrigation water at the root zone.
Several design choices enhance the suitability of the solution for water-scarce agriculture. Conventional water-absorbing polymers are often synthetic. EF Polymer’s polymer is biodegradable and intended to support long-term agricultural use. It is designed specifically for field crops, greenhouse cultivation, and sandy or low-organic soils, where low water-holding capacity is often a limiting factor.
The concept originated from observation in the field: even when irrigation is applied, much of the water is not effectively used by plants. Rather than requiring expensive infrastructure, the solution shifts the focus to the soil itself, improving water efficiency directly at the root zone.
The Impact
Across multiple field trials, the solution has led to improvement in soil moisture retention, reduced irrigation frequency, and produced stable or improved crop yield. One of the strongest examples is a large-scale field project in Jaisalmer, India, spanning approximately 500 acres and involving 100 farmers in an arid zone with coarse sandy soils, high evapotranspiration, and limited rainfall.
The treatment reportedly resulted in 20-25% average water saving and 15-20% yield increase, alongside an estimated 200-300 kg/acre production gain and additional farmer income of INR 14,500-21,700 per acre. It also resulted in stronger crop health indicators and demonstrated performance in desert and semi-desert agriculture systems, making it a useful supporting reference for the UAE context.
The Future:
Scalability & Beyond
EF Polymer's planned next step is independent validation in desert farming conditions, where heat and sandy soils quickly reveal whether a solution performs reliably. Participation in Al Miyah Challenge for Agriculture offers an opportunity to test the technology in a credible field setting and build evidence that growers, researchers, and deployment partners will require before changing practice. If performance holds in UAE conditions, the approach could become relevant across other arid and semi-arid regions where sandy soils and limited irrigation water create similar constraints.
Narayan Lal Gurajar, Founder & CEO, EF Polymer“The challenge provides a unique opportunity to validate our technology under extreme climatic conditions, including high temperature, sandy soils, and limited freshwater availability. Demonstrating success will validate the solution for arid and semi-arid regions.”