Plastic films for agricultural applications

The most important agricultural applications of plastic films are greenhouse, walk-in tunnel and low tunnel covers, and mulching. The raw materials are usually low density polyethylene (LDPE) and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) or ethylene-butyl acrylate (EBA) copolymers for the covers and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) for mulching. The market is explosively growing in China, and slowly growing in the rest of the world. The key properties for these applications are durability, optical (ultraviolet, visible, near infrared, and middle infrared) properties, and the antidrip or antifog effect. Recent developments in this area include UV-blocking, NIR-blocking, fluorescent, and ultrathermic films.