Mines Doctoral Student Wins First Place for Research Poster on Sustainable Agricultural Bioplastics

A South Dakota Mines doctoral student earned first place for his research on a sprayable hybrid biopolymer mulch aimed at promoting sustainable agricultural production.

Md Woashib Shikder, from the Mines Karen M. Swindler Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, was among 150 individuals and teams worldwide presenting at the annual Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE)’s Annual Technical Conference (ANTEC) earlier this month. The conference highlights the latest advancements in plastics and polymer science across industrial, laboratory, academic, and global sectors. ANTEC covers emerging technologies, commercially available materials and processes, polymer research, novel materials and innovative manufacturing techniques among other key topics.

“I was surprised,” Shikder said of the first-place finish. “There were a lot of good teams with good ideas.”

Shikder’s research is part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) collaborative grant the university received in 2022 to develop bioplastics for use in agriculture. The grant, called Bioplastics with Regenerative Agricultural Properties, or BioWRAP, included a research team at Mines working alongside a principal investigator at Kansas State University and researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Traditional specialty crop production often uses petroleum-based plastic sheets to cover the ground. These conventional plastics leave microplastic residue which contaminates the environment and increases stormwater runoff.  The BioWRAP project uses local natural resources to launch a new era of biodegradable and sustainable materials that help the agricultural economy by adding value to local crops while increasing soil health and crop yield.

“This hybrid mulch would be biodegradable, minimizing environmental impact and eliminating the labor-intensive process of removing conventional plastic-based mulches,” Shikder said.

The hybrid mulch is engineered to address three major challenges in modern farming. First, it would suppress weed growth, potentially reducing farming difficulty and labor costs. Then, according to Shikder, it could help retain soil moisture, lowering the demand for irrigation. And finally, it is intended to provide a controlled supply of nutrients to plants, enhancing the symbiotic relation between plants and nitrogen-fixing microbes.

Shidker’s research focused on three plants in a bichamber, but the goal is to increase the scale of the product. “Our ultimate goal is to have a sprayable hybrid biopolymer mulch that can solve challenges facing farmers,” he said.

He has been working with Mines professors David Salem, Ph.D., who leads the Composite and Nanocomposite Advanced Manufacturing Biomaterials (CNAM Bio ) Center and Chris Shearer, Ph.D., associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.