Patent ID: 7425595

Claim:
A method for delivering a beneficial additive in agricultural applications, comprising: obtaining at least one beneficial additive combined with a superabsorbent polymer comprising starch graft copolymer particles formed from a process comprising: graft polymerizing a monomer onto a starch to form a starch graft copolymer including a starch matrix; isolating the starch graft copolymer; forming particles of starch graft copolymer that are sized for use in agricultural applications, wherein forming particles comprises extruding the starch graft copolymers into strands and applying an alcohol to the strands to reduce tackiness of the extruded strands, the alcohol chosen from methanol, ethanol, propanol or isopropanol, and forming starch graft copolymer particles sized between 16 and 30 mesh; and adding the at least one beneficial additive after isolating the starch graft copolymer so that at least some of the beneficial additive is entrapped by the starch matrix; dispensing the combined beneficial additive and superabsorbent polymer in an agricultural environment; wherein at least some of the at least one beneficial additive is entrapped by a starch matrix of the starch graft copolymer particles.