The method of encapsulating biopesticides in polymer matrices is actively used to increase crop yields. However, existing research has focused primarily on the use of natural polymer matrices, which are significantly inferior to synthetic polymers in a number of performance characteristics. Copolymers of acrylic acid and acrylamide have proven themselves as soil conditioners due to their high sorption characteristics, ease of chemical modification, and the reproducibility of their properties. In the presented work, three methods of acrylic hydrogel synthesis were investigated, differing in the stages of the process and methods of introducing the biofungicide "Trichodermin". Using IR spectroscopy, optical microscopy and microbiological analysis, it was shown that all the methods used to obtain the soil conditioner allow the functional activity of T. harzianum to be preserved after its encapsulation in acrylic hydrogel. However, the study of the sorption characteristics and parameters of polymer mesh showed that the optimal method is the introduction of biofungicide at the synthesis stage, which allows for high sorption characteristics: the values of the equilibrium degree of swelling in water and in physiological solution were, respectively, Q∞ = 410 g/g and Q∞ = 50 g/g. Such values are achieved by forming a low-defect polymer mesh with a low content of sol fraction (S=0.04) and a high proportion of active chains (Vc ~ 0.70). The resulting material is promising for use as a soil conditioner with prolonged biofungicide release.

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