In view of the growing competition between burgeoning population, agriculture and industry, enhancing crop productivity with limited quantity of water has become a global necessity.
Water conserving techniques such as drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, mulching, water sheds, zero tillage, direct seeding etc. are being disseminated and adopted by the farmers across countries.
“In view of the agriculture specific requirements, scientists at Indian Agricultural Research institute, New Delhi, developed a granular product called Pusa Hydrogel patented by the Institute, which is being promoted by ICAR as well as Ministry of Agriculture. The product is available in 250, 500 gm and one kg packets in the market,” says Dr. Anupama Singh, Principal Scientist and inventor at the Institute.
Dry powderAvailable as a dry powder the gel should be mixed with approximately with 10 times the quantity of farm soil and basal dose of fertilizer. Seeds to be sown are also mixed with it.
The mixture is then applied uniformly in the rows with the help of plough or a seed drill. Care must be taken to ensure precision application of product around or below the seed.
During irrigation, the gel absorbs the irrigated water like a sponge and during dry period releases the water for the plants.
This technology is suited for farmers growing crops under rainfed and limited water availability areas. Application of Pusa hydrogel reduces frequency of irrigation in almost all the crops including cereals, pulses, vegetables and flowers, thus reducing time and money spent on irrigation, labour and water costs, according to Dr.B.S. Parmar, former Joint Director Research.
Suppose a farmer irrigates his paddy once every five days, after using this gel he needs to irrigate his crops only once every seven days. The gel reduces water requirement for crops, besides saving water from going waste in the field.
Wheat“In wheat, its performance was evaluated by the Institute and other platforms across country. It was found that farmers can easily save two irrigations through the use of this product without compromising on the crop yield. Similar beneficial results have been observed in groundnut, soyabean, flowers, vegetables and other crops,” explains Dr. Anupama.
The gel was tested in flowers such as chrysanthemum and was observed that nursery of chrysanthemum gets ready for transplantation in 18 days against a normal 28-30 days needed to prepare the same nursery through normal irrigation.
Other cropsIt has also been found useful on several other crops such as wheat, groundnut, potato, soyabean, mustard, onion, tomato, cauliflower, carrot, strawberry, opium, maize, sugarcane, turmeric, cotton, guar gum, cucurbits, pea, eucalyptus, gram, apple, polyhouse vegetables, pomegranate, garlic, kathua and pigeonpea, according to Dr. Anupama.
For most of the crops, the rate of Pusa hydrogel to be applied is 2.5 to 5 kg per hectare. It needs to be applied for every new crop. It has been licensed to six companies. In the market, it is available under two brand names Cumijal and Vaaridhar-G1 priced at Rs. 1,200 to Rs.1,800 a kg. Efforts are being undertaken by the Institute to get subsidy on the product.
Different placesAt present the product has been well adapted in Karnataka, Tamil nadu, Andhra Pradesh, M.P. Besides farmers from states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Western U.P. and Bihar are also increasingly becoming aware about the technology owing to efforts of the KVK Institutes.
To know more about this interested farmers can get in touch with Dr. Anupama Singh, Principal scientist and inventor, phone: 011-25841390, email: anupama.chikara@gmail.com, mobile: 09968449395 and Dr.B.S. Parmar former Joint Director (Research) IARI, email: parmar.balraj9@gmail.com, mobile: 09868373507.
