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