In the present work, the sorption properties of acrylic moisture-retaining materials containing barley extract were prepared and investigated by free-radical copolymerisation of acrylic derivatives in water-ethanol solution. The barley extract obtained in this work, using diethyl ether and hydrochloric acid, was characterised by thin layer chromatography and IR spectroscopy. The optimum parameters for the synthesis of hydrogel materials were selected in the course of this work. The swelling kinetics of the obtained cross-linked polymer samples in distilled water and physiological solution was investigated; the values of equilibrium swelling degrees were determined – 960 g/g and 80 g/g, respectively. The calculated diffusion coefficients indicate that the application of common barley extract does not affect the mechanism of solvent diffusion into the polymer mesh and is anomalous in nature. The obtained composite materials can find wide application as soil conditioners and biopesticides for agricultural needs