Book of Extended summaries ISDA

International Conference on Reimagining Rainfed Agro-ecosystems: Challenges &
Opportunities during 22-24, December 2022 at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad
T1-02O-1125
Modified Agronomic Practices for Enhancing Efficiency of Hydrogels in
Groundnut under Semi-arid Ecologies of Andhra Pradesh
G.A. Rajanna, B. C. Ajay, K. K. Reddy and C. S. Praharaj
ICAR-Directorate of Groundnut Research, Regional Station, Ananthapur, Andhra Pradesh 515701
One of the main oilseed crops, groundnut accounts for around 26% of India's total oilseed
production. About 7.6 lakh hectares of groundnut are grown in Andhra Pradesh, with an annual
production of 4.8 lakh tonnes. It is a significant oilseed crop in the Rayalaseema districts of
Andhra Pradesh (Ananthapur, Karnool, Cuddapah, Chittoor, and Sathya Sai Jilla). Because of
the high erratic nature of the rainfall in these locations, farmers were unable to make use of the
extra moisture. However, during the flowering and pod-filling periods, the groundnut crop is
severely stressed by dryness. Due to lack of appropriate water absorption materials, the
inconsistent rainfall that the crop got during that time was effectively wasted. Polymer
hydrogels are one such material that can absorb the excess rainwater and release as and when
the crop needs (Rajanna et al., 2022). However, the typical way of applying hydrogel is soil
application, led to erroneous germination and reduced crop yields in the long run. To maximise
the advantages of polymer hydrogels, we must thus change the way they are applied. According
to Rajanna et al. (2021), seed treatment with pusa hydrogel and SPG 1118 led to higher
biological and seed yields in the soybean-wheat system than soil application. In light of this, a
field study was carried out to investigate the impact of altered agronomic procedures for
improving various hydrogels efficiency in terms of growth and yield qualities in semi-arid
conditions of Andhra Pradesh.
Methodology
A field study was conducted at ICAR-Directorate of Groundnut Research, Regional Station,
Ananthapur during kharif season of 2021-22 to study the effect of modified agronomic
practices for enhancing efficiency of hydrogels in groundnut under semi-arid ecologies of
Andhra Pradesh. The experiment consisted of ten treatments having two types of hydrogels
(SPG 1118 and Aaridhar) applied with three types of method of application (soil application,
slurry application and seed treatment) along with FYM, no gypsum application and control
plots using RBD with three replications. Sowing was done on 06 th July 2021 using Kadari
Lepakshi (K1812) variety of groundnut planted at a planting interval of 30×10 cm in a gross
plot area of 27 m 2 . The recommended rate of fertilizer used was 20:40:50 kg NPK/ha along
with gypsum application (500 kg/ha) at 25 days after sowing. The source of fertilizers were
DAP, Urea and MOP. At various growing phases, all growth and yield observations were
recorded, and the data was statistically analyzed.
Resilience through land and water management interventions, water management and governance
9 | Page