Standardizing the Hydrogel Application Rates and Foliar Nutrition for Enhancing Yield of Lentil (Lens culinaris)

Shashidhar K Shankarappa,Diaa O El-Ansary,Ajay B Chandrashekar,Premaradhya Nagabhushanaradhya,Amit K Singh,Bhuvaneshwari Shivashankar,Shabir H Wani,Samuel J Muniyandi,Hosam O Elansary

doi:10.3390/pr8040420

Abstract

Lentil (Lens culinaris) is an important winter season annual legume crop known for its highly valued seed in human and animal nutrition owing to its high lysine and tryptophan content. Shortage of water during the crop growth period has become the major impediment for cultivation of pulses in rice fallow in particular. Under such conditions, the application of hydrogel can be a potential alternative to improve photosynthetic efficiency, assimilate partitioning, and increase growth and yield. A field experiment was conducted from November to February during 2015–16 to 2017–18 on clay loam soil that was medium in fertility and acidic in reaction (pH 5.4) at Central Agricultural University, Imphal, Manipur. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. There were three hydrogel levels in total in the main plot and foliar nutrition with five different nutrient sprays in sub-plots, together comprising 15 treatment combinations. The data pooled over three years, 2015–2018, revealed that application of hydrogel at 5 kg/ha before sowing recorded a significantly greater number of pods per plant (38.0) and seed yield (1032.1 kg/ha) over the control. Foliar application of nutrients over flower initiation and pod development had a positive effect on increasing the number of pods per plant eventually enhanced the seed yield of lentil. Foliar application of either 0.5% NPK or salicylic acid 75 ppm spray at flower initiation and pod development stages recorded significantly more pods per plant over other nutrient treatments. Further, the yield attributed improved because of elevated growth in plant. Significantly maximum seed yield (956 kg/ha) recorded in the NPK spray of 0.5% remained on par with salicylic acid 75 ppm (939 kg/ha) over the rest of the treatments.

Highlights

Rainfed agriculture has a protruding role to play in India’s agriculture and economy
Was not significant for all the traits, indicating that the effects of hydrogel and nutrition treatments are independent of each other (Table 1)
The data pooled over three years, 2015–16, 2016–17, and 2017–18, revealed that the application of hydrogel 5 kg/ha before sowing recorded a significantly greater number of pods per plant (37.94) and seed yield (1032.1 kg/ha), which was 22.2 and 51.1 percent higher, respectively, over the control (Tables 2 and 3), whereas it recorded as 13.1 and 17.8 percent higher for the number of pods and seed yield, respectively, over 2.5 kg/ha hydrogel application

Summary

Introduction

Rainfed agriculture has a protruding role to play in India’s agriculture and economy. India ranks first among the rainfed countries in the world in terms of area, it counts the lowest in yields (around 1 ton/ha) [1]. Rainfed areas are home to the majority of rural poor and marginal farmers, who come across multiple risks and uncertainties relating to bio-physical and socio-economic conditions resulting in poverty, malnutrition, water scarcity, severe land degradation, lower yields, low investments, and poor physical and social infrastructure. More than 75% of pulses, 66% of oilseeds, and 45% of cereals are grown under rainfed conditions [1]. Though the maximum area is under rainfed, negligence is shown towards its upliftment

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Results

Conclusion