The Pharma Innovation Journal 2020; SP-9(7): 36-39

ISSN (E): 2277- 7695

ISSN (P): 2349-8242
NAAS Rating: 5.03 Effect of hydrogel on growth, yield and Economics of
TPI 2020; SP-9(7): 36-39
© 2020 TPI rainfed castor
www.thepharmajournal.com
Received: xx-05-2020
Accepted: xx-06-2020 Kumar Naik AH, Chaithra GM, Kiran Kumar N, Madhu G, Nataraja M,
Kumar Naik AH Umesha S and Madhu BM
Assistant Professor (Agronomy),
AICRP on Groundnut, ZAHRS,
Abstract
Hiriyur, Karnataka, India
A field experiment was conducted during kharif 2016-17 to test the impact of hydrogel application on
Chaithra GM
growth, yield and economics of rainfed castor at Zonal Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station,
Zonal Agricultural and Babbur Farm, Hiriyur, Karnataka. The superabsorbent polymer as pusa Hydrogel at 50% RDH, 100%
Horticultural Research Station, RDH and 150% RDH and control were set as treatments. The results of study indicated that soil
Hiriyur, Karnataka, India application of pusa hydrogel @ 100% RDH resulted in significant improvement on plant height and
number of capsules/spike which reflected in higher seed yield (1776 kg/ha) followed by 50% RDH (1652
Kiran Kumar N kg/ha) as compared to Control (1242 kg/ha). However, application of 50% and 100% RDH recorded
COH, Zonal Agricultural and similar B:C ratio (2.0). Hydrogel application beyond 100% RDH reduced the seed yield of castor by 11%
Horticultural Research Station, and brought down the B:C ratio drastically (1.6). Next best treatment is found to be soil application of
Hiriyur, Karnataka, India pusa hydrogel @ 50% RDH. From the above results, it can be inferred that soil application of hydrogel
may be a significant practice to increase the yield of castor under rainfed conditions.
Madhu G
Zonal Agricultural and
Keywords: Hydrogel, yield, economics, rainfed castor
Horticultural Research Station,
Hiriyur, Karnataka, India
Introduction
Nataraja M Castor is one of the ancient and important non-edible oilseeds grown in 30 countries across the
Zonal Agricultural and globe in tropical and subtropical regions. Castor oil and its’ by products have multifarious uses
Horticultural Research Station, -[63 in agricultural, industrial, medicinal and ornamental fields (Ramanjaneyulu et al., 2017)
Hiriyur, Karnataka, India [18]
. Globally castor is cultivated in an area of 12.5 lakh ha with a production of 17.7 lakh
Umesha S tonnes and a productivity of 1414 kg ha-1 (www.fao.org). India is the global leader with 66%
Zonal Agricultural and area (8.23 lakh ha), 80% production (14.21 lakh tonnes) and highest productivity (1713 kg ha -
Horticultural Research Station, 1
) in castor. In India, the crop is grown in more than 1.0 lakh ha area purely under rainfed
Hiriyur, Karnataka, India conditions characterized by low and erratic distribution of rainfall leading to occurrence of
Madhu BM
mid-season or terminal dry spell finally leading to reduced yields (Kumar Naik et al., 2015)
[13]
Zonal Agricultural and . In view of global climate change, frequency of dry spells or drought may still aggravate
Horticultural Research Station, the problem of soil moisture availability leading to significant reduction in crop yields.
Hiriyur, Karnataka, India Further, castor is raised by resource poor farmers in arid and semiarid regions, mostly on
marginal and sub marginal lands having shallow depth, low water holding capacity, less clay
and organic matter (Abdelfattah, 2013) [1] besides the problems like vulnerability to soil
erosion and poor native fertility (Falkenmark and Rockstrom, 2004) [7]. No doubt, castor being
drought hardy plant is well adapted to low moisture conditions with its deep root system and
reflective bloom on stems and leaves to reduce heat load and thrive under conserved moisture.
However, yields -are greatly reduced under limited moisture supply conditions. Low cost
moisture conservation practice such as ridge and furrow has been proved to enhance castor
seed yield by 6.5-12% over dead furrow and flatbed method of land configuration (Krishna
and Ramanjaneyulu, 2012) [12]. Hence, new strategies have to be adopted to mitigate the ill
effects of drought. One such novel approach is thought to be use of hydrogels in
Agriculture.Hydrogels are superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) which on an average, hold 332-
465 times water of its weight and release it slowly in drought stress conditions in light soils
(Dehkordi, 2016) [5]. Due to their three-dimensional cross linked hydrophilic polymer
networks, hydrogels are subjected to swelling and retain large amount of water or de swelling
to loose its moisture. Thus, they act as ‘miniature reservoirs’. They undergo volume transition
Corresponding Author: in response to physical and chemical stimuli depending on the environmental conditions
Kumar Naik AH
Assistant Professor (Agronomy),
(Ahmed, 2015) [2]. The hydrogel gradually releases up to 95% of its stored water when its
AICRP on Groundnut, ZAHRS, surroundings begin to dry out. But, when comes in contact with water again, it gets
Hiriyur, Karnataka, India replenished.
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This process can last up to 2-5 years, by which time sprayer to semilooper (Achoeajanata L.) control.
biodegradable hydrogel decomposes to CO2, water and The crop harvested in three pickings manually based on the
ammonia and potassium ions, without any residue, thus, physiology maturity of the capsule, five representative plants
environment friendly (Trenkel, 1997) [23]. Further, they acts as were collected randomly to assess the parameters viz., plant
soil conditioners and improve the physical properties of soils height, number of branches, number of primary spikes, spike
viz., porosity, bulk density, water holding capacity, soil length and seed yield were collected at harvest. The data was
permeability and infiltration rate. They improve the crop analyzed statistically in randomised block design using
growth by increasing water holding capacity in soil and delay OPSTAT. The significance of the treatment effect was
the wilting point in drought stress (Boatright et al., 1997) [4]. determined using the F-test. Least significant differences were
Many authors have reported positive (Rehman et al., 2011; calculated at the 5% probability level to determine the
Singh, 2012; Langaroodi et al., 2013) [19, 21, 15] and negative significance of the difference between two treatments (Gomez
(Mandal et al., 2015) [16] results in terms of moisture and Gomez, 1984).
conservation and yield improvement in several crops with an
exception of economic feasibility. However, so far very few Results and Discussion
research activities were carried out in rainfed castor. Hence, The data presented in Table 1 indicated that growth and yield
we have evaluated agronomically and economically the traits and seed yield of castor were higher in treatment
impact of hydrogel in rainfed castor. receiving soil application of 100% RDH (1776 kg ha -1). The
probable reasons were, though less amount of rainfall (268.80
Material and Methods mm) was received during crop growth period in 2016, its’
A field experiment was conducted at Zonal Agricultural and distribution was better. High intensity rainfall of 46.4 mm
Horticultural Research Station, Babbur Farm, Hiriyur, received on 28-08-16 (35th week) has helped to get better
Karnataka state, India during kharif season of 2016 under yield from primary raceme, good amount of rainfall received
rainfed conditions to find out the effect of hydrogel addition during early crop growth might have helped to build up soil
on growth, yield and economics of rainfed castor. The station moisture thus plants might have extracted moisture from soil
is situated at 130 94’ 38” North latitude and 760 61’ 61” East which was absorbed by hydrogel granules and produce better
longitudes, with an altitude of 630 meters above means sea yield from different order racemes.
level. It comes under Agro-Climatic Region-10 and Central
Dry Zone (Zone-IV) of Karnataka. The soil of the Effect on growth attributes
experimental site is medium black, slightly alkaline in pH The growth attributes like plant height and number of
(8.05), low in organic carbon (0.15%) and medium available branches plant-1 was taken at maximum growth stage at 90
nitrogen (273 kg ha-1), low in available P2O5 (42 kg ha-1) and DAS and the data is presented in Table 1. The data revealed
high available K2O (315 kg ha-1). The total rainfall received that, among different doses of hydrogel application, treatment
during 2016 was 312.2 mm with 31 rainy days. The receiving soil application of 100% RDH recorded
meteorological data during the course of crop growth (July- significantly higher plant height (106 cm) and number of
October) as well as normal data were obtained from Agro Met branches (3.4) than the other treatments. Hydrogel increase
Observatory (Gramina Krushi Mausam Sewa), Department of availability of nutrients like macro (N, P, K) as well as
Agronomy, Hiriyur. The weekly rainfall data was used for micronutrient (Mo, Zn and Mn) to the roots of crop which
calculation of rainfall deviation by using Microsoft Excel. helps in turns to increase in photosynthetic activity of plants
Further, the rainfall was classified based on IMD (Indian that later enhances the vegetative growth thus the number of
Meteorological Department) specifications as detailed below. leaves per plant, number of branches, plant height and root
length (Sharma et al., 2014 and Sureshrao et al., 2016) [20, 22].
Rainfall % Departure Hydrogel have been reported to increase the activity of cell
Excess +20% and above the normal division, cell expansion and cell elongation, ultimately
Normal +19.0 to -19.9% of the normal leading to an increased plant height, number of branches, leaf
Deficit -20.0 to -59.9% of the normal area index, plant biomass and root growth. Similar results
Scarcity ≤ 60.0% of the normal have been reported by AlHarbi et al. (1996) in cucumber.

The experiment consisted of 4 treatments viz., Control (No Effect on yield parameters and Yield
hydrogel), 50% RDH (2.5 kg ha-1), 100% RDH (5 kg ha-1) The data (Table 1) showed that different doses of hydrogel
and 150% RDH (7.5 kg ha-1), each replicated three times. The has shown significant variation on yield parameters and seed
experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block yield (kg ha-1 ) and data reveals that soil application of 100%
design (RCBD). The plot size of 7.2 m × 4.8 m was used. RDH (1776 kgha-1) recorded significantly higher seed yield
Compound fertilizer [NPK (12:32:16)] at a rate of 20 kg which was significantly higher over rest of the treatments.
nitrogen, 40 kg of phosphorus and 20 kg potassium as basal The lowest grain yield was recorded under control (1242
dose followed by top dressing with an additional 20 kg N/ha kgha-1) which was 30 per cent lower than the best treatment.
each at 35-40 and 65-70 days after sowing applied. The An increase in yield and yield related attributes could be
required quantity of hydrogel was applied to the rows at a because of sufficient availability of water and indirectly
depth of 8-10 cm before sowing and mixed with soil. The nutrients supplied by the SAP to the plants under water stress
‘DCH- 177’ variety of castor was sown using two castor seeds condition, which in turn lead to better translocation of water,
per hill on ridges by hand dibbling at recommended spacing nutrients and photosynthates and finally better plant stand and
of 90 cm (between rows) x 60 cm (plant to plant) with a depth yield (El Hardy et al., 2009) [6]. It may be attributed with
of 8-10 cm. At two weeks after sowing, the seedlings of super absorbing properties of the hydrogel which absorbs the
castor crop were thinned to 1 plant per hill. Acephate at the water and releases it slowly to the growing plants as per the
rate of 1.25 kg/ha was applied with a hand operated knapsack crop needs. The positive effect of superabsorbent polymers in

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The Pharma Innovation Journal http://www.thepharmajournal.com

increasing the yields was reported by Khadem et al., (2010) respectively. It was mainly due to significant improvement in
[11]
, Gunes et al., (2016) [9] and kumar et al., (2017) [14] in seed yield. A minimum increase in seed yield by 200 kg ha -1
maize crop. is required to compensate the increased cost due to hydrogel
addition. Further, an increase in seed yield by 400-500 kg ha-1
Effect on economics is required to achieve higher net returns and B:C ratio. Such
In the current study, economics data (Table 1) showed that results were also reported by Islam et al., (2011) [10] who
castor crop grown without hydrogel addition has accrued concluded that optimum dose of super absorbent polymer for
lower net returns (Rs.19,255 ha-1) and B:C ratio (1.6). Further, maize cultivation was 30 kg ha-1 and lower (10-20 kg ha-1) or
addition of hydrogel has increased the net returns and B:C higher (≥ 40 kg ha-1) would neither be sufficient nor
ratio to Rs. 56,538 ha-1, 1.8 (150% RDH); Rs. 59,472 ha-1, 2.0 economical.
(50% RDH) and Rs. 63,936 ha-1, 2.0 (50% RDH)

Table 1: Effect of hydrogel on Growth, Yield and Economics of rainfed castor

Plant height Number of Primary Number of Gross Net
Seed yield Number of spikes/ B:C
Treatments upto primary branches/ spike length capsule per returns Returns
(kg/ha) Plant Ratio
raceme(cm) plant (cm) spike (Rs/ha) (Rs/ha)
Control (No hydrogel) 1242 83 3.0 4.0 43 44 44705 19255 1.6
50% RDH 1652 93 3.3 4.3 49 47 59472 30272 2.0
100% RDH 1776 106 3.4 4.5 50 49 63936 31486 2.0
150% RDH 1571 89 3.3 4.2 44 47 56538 20588 1.8
S.Em± 63.85 3.7 0.35 0.35 2.2 1.0
CD (P=0.05) 196.7 11.5 1.09 1.07 6.75 3.1
Note: RDH: Recommended dose of Hydrogel (5 kg/ha); Cost of Hydrogel Rs. 1400 kg/ha. In all the treatments recommended dose of fertilizers
was applied

Fig 1: Weekly rainfall deviation (%) during 2016 at ZAHRS, Babbur Farm, Hiriyur

Fig 2: Seed yield and Net returns as influenced by different levels of hydrogel applications

Conclusion would reduce the farmer’s initial cost of production and also
The results of the experiment suggested that the soil help to sustain the soil ecosystem.
application of hydrogel (50% RDH) should be used in castor
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