Vol. 8, Issue 4 (2020)
Evaluation of irrigation levels and hydrogels on the growth, yield and profitability of wheat
Author(s): Mukesh Kumar and Bhagat Singh
Abstract: A field experiment was carried out during Rabi season of 2016-17 and 2017-18 at CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar (Lat. 29°10' N, Log. 75°46' E and 215.2 m amsl) to investigate the effect of irrigation levels and hydrogels on the growth, yield and profitability of wheat. The soil of the field was sandy loam in texture, slightly alkaline in pH (7.9), low in organic carbon, poor in available nitrogen and medium in available phosphorus and available potassium. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with four irrigation levels viz., no irrigation (control), three irrigations at crown root initiation (CRI), late tillering (LT) and grain filling (GF) stage, three irrigations at 35/40 days after sowing (DAS), 80 and 120 DAS and six irrigations at critical stages i.e. CRI, tillering, jointing, flowering, milking and dough stage in main plot and three moisture conservation practices viz. control (no hydrogel), Pusa Hydrogel @ 2.5 kg/ha and Herbal Hydrogel (Gum Tragacantha i.e. Goond katira) seed treatment in subplots, replicated thrice. Pooled results of two consecutive year, 2016-17 and 2017-18 revealed that progressive increase in wheat grain yield and biological yield was recorded with every increment in irrigation frequency. Six irrigations brought significantly higher grain yield (62.11 q/ha) over no irrigation (36.94 q/ha), three irrigation at CRI, LT and GF (52.90 q/ha) and three irrigations at 35/40, 80 and 120 DAS (55.87 q/ha). Maximum grain yield in six irrigated crop might be due to significantly more growth and yield attributes viz., plant height (100.94 cm), effective tillers/m2 (406.67), grains/earhead (59.43) and 1000-grain weight (39.53 g) in six irrigated crop then other irrigation regimes. Six irrigated crop produced 40.52, 14.83 and 10.05% more grain yield than control, three irrigation at CRI, LT and GF stage and three irrigation at 40, 80 and 120 DAS. Among different moisture conservation treatments, the application of Pusa hydrogel and herbal hydrogel had not improved grain yield of wheat significantly as compared to control (without hydrogel). Although Pusa Hydrogel treatment produced numerically higher grain yield (52.55 q/ha) and yield attributes then control (51.31 q/ha) and Herbal Hydrogel (52.01 q/ha). Application of six irrigation at all important crop growth stages provided additional gross return (Rs. 53001/ha) and net returns (Rs. 45688/ha) over without irrigation. The highest grain yield was recorded when six irrigations were applied at all the critical growth stages and application of Pusa hydrogel and herbal hydrogel had not improved grain yield of wheat.
DOI: 10.22271/chemi.2020.v8.i4p.9846
Pages: 1649-1654 | 604 Views 137 Downloads
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How to cite this article:
Mukesh Kumar, Bhagat Singh. Evaluation of irrigation levels and hydrogels on the growth, yield and profitability of wheat. Int J Chem Stud 2020;8(4):1649-1654. DOI: 10.22271/chemi.2020.v8.i4p.9846
