Asian Journal of Plant Sciences1682-39741812-5697Asian Network for Scientific Information10.3923/ajps.2023.56.65SalemT.M. RefaieK.M. Al-MushhinAmina A.M.SaadShereen A.H.12023221Background and Objective: Owing to swelling properties and easy fabrication, hydrogels are employed intensively in agricultural applications. Nano-particles were used in agriculture due to their high surface area and reactivity in soil. This study aims to improve the adsorption capacity of soil from nutrients and enhance water holding capacity using hydrogel grafted with magnetic nanoparticles. Materials and Methods: Herein, hydrogel composite of acrylic acid or sodium acrylate co-polymer cross-linked with magnetic nanoparticle (HG-MNP) were synthesized and characterized by FTIR, TGA, BET and TEM techniques as compared with the hydrogel (HG). A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of HG and HG-MNP on crop productivity, quality and water-use efficiency of eggplant under different irrigation and mineral fertigation doses. Results: The results indicated that the incorporation of magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) into the hydrogel matrix can significantly improve both the thermal stability and the swelling ratio of the hydrogel samples. The results of the pot experiment conducted on eggplant treated with the modified HG showed a significant increase in the studied morphological characteristics including plant high, stem diameter, number of branches, leaves, fruits, chlorophyll concentrations and crop yield compared to the control. This was attributed to the higher swelling ratio of HG-MNP and the higher adsorption ratios of nutrients than HG, which ensured an adequate supply of water and nutrients throughout the growth period of the crop. Conclusion: These results indicated that the integration of HG-MNP is beneficial for agricultural applications, especially under water stress.]]>Rodrigues, F.H.A., A.R. Fajardo, A.G.B. Pereira, N.M.P.S. Ricardo, J.P.A. Feitosa and E.C. Muniz,2012graft-poly(acrylic acid)/rice husk ash based superabsorbent hydrogel composite: Preparation and characterization.]]>2012Manjanna, K.M., T.M.P. Kumar and B. Shivakumar,20102509525Baldwin, A.D. and K.L. Kiick,201094128140Rudzinski, W.E., A.M. Dave, U.H. Vaishnav, S.G. Kumbar, A.R. Kulkarni and T.M. Aminabhavi,200253965Coronado, R., S. Pekerar, A.T. Lorenzo and M.A. Sabino,2011N-isopropylacrylamide)/hyaluronic acid.]]>67101124Shi, X., W. Wang and A. Wang,20111817051713Xie, Y. and A. Wang,2009g-poly (acrylic acid)/vermiculite superabsorbent composites.]]>16143150Kiatkamjornwong, S., K. Mongkolsawat and M. Sonsuk,2002co-(maleic acid)] superabsorbent via γ-irradiation.]]>4339153924Muzzarelli, R.A.A.,20118314331445Wang, Y. and L. Chen,20118319371946Bindraban, P.S., C. Dimkpa, L. Nagarajan, A. Roy and R. Rabbinge,201551897911Montalvo, D., M.J. McLaughlin and F. Degryse,201579551558Cheng, W., J. Xu, Y. Wang, F. Wu, X. Xu and J. Li,201544593101Cheng, W., X. Xu, F. Wu and J. Li,2016164210212Prasad, T.N.V.K.V., P. Sudhakar, Y. Sreenivasulu, P. Latha and V. Munaswamy et al.,201235905927Jeyasubramanian, K., U.U.G. Thoppey, G.S. Hikku, N. Selvakumar, A. Subramania and K. Krishnamoorthy,201661545115459Hotze, E.M., T. Phenrat and G.V. Lowry,20103919091924Jeon, C.S., K. Baek, J.K. Park, Y.K. Oh and S.D. Lee,2009163804808Neethu, T.M., P.K. Dubey and A.R. Kaswala,2018731553162Cottenie, A., M. Verloo, L. Kiekens, G. Velghe and R. Camerlynck,1982Jones, J.B.,1991Pages: 79Pages: 79Meena, B.S., R.S. Narolia, L.K. Meena, K.C. Meena and S.N. Meena,2020Brassica juncea) in restricted irrigation condition of S-E Rajasthan.]]>932743283Kalapathy, U., A. Proctor and J. Shultz,200285285289Hegde, N.D. and A.V. Rao,200625315661572Prasetyoko, D., Z. Ramli, S. Endud, H. Hamdan and B. Sulikowski,20062611731179Tabak, A., B. Afsin, B. Caglar and E. Koksal,2007313511Reddy, D.S., X. Wu, V.M. Golub, W.M. Dashwood and R.H. Dashwood,20182018Gharekhani, H., A. Olad, A. Mirmohseni and A. Bybordi,2017168113Huang, Y., J. Lu and C. Xiao,20079210721081Pan, X., X.W. Zhuang and S.W. Chen,201712 47954809Dong, C.D., C.W. Chen, C.M. Kao, C.C. Chien and C.M. Hung,20182018Rui, M., C. Ma, Y. Hao, J. Guo and Y. Rui et al.,2016Arachis hypogaea).]]>2016Ekebafe, L.O., D.E. Ogbeifun and F.E. Okieimen,2011238189Robbins, R.J.,20035128662887Ness, A.R. and J.W. Powles,199726113Cao, G., E. Sofic and R.L. Prior,19964434263431Daunay, M.C.,20082008pp: 163-220pp: 163-220Daunay, M.C., R.N. Lester and G. Ano,20012001pp: 199-221pp: 199-221