Assessing the Impact of Hydrogels on Early Growth of Maize Grown in Sandy Regosols

Abstract

World food production has been challenged by prolong drought conditions associated with changing climate in the world. Super Absorbent Polymers or hydrogels gained immense interest in recent days due to their water-holding properties in soil, enhancement of soil porousness, reduction of irrigation requirement and enhance plant growth. This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of four different hydrogels produced together with one commercially available hydrogel on early growth of maize in sandy soil with low soil water holding capacity. The early growth of hybrid Maize variety Paccific 984 was tested with six treatments. T1 (Hydrogel type A-reference gel), T2 (Hydrogel type B- urea incorporated), T3 (Hydrogel type C-without urea), T4 (Hydrogel type D urea incorporated), T5 (commercial hydrogel) and T6 (Control-no application of hydrogel). The experiment was designed in a Randomized Complete Block Design. Plant growth parameters including plant height, number of leaves and total dry matter production were recorded. Soil properties were determined at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. Results showed that plants treated with locally produced hydrogels have been given the highest growth performance than control and commercial product treatments. T2 has been recorded with highest plant height (128.90 cm), leaf area (1153.3 cm2) and total dry mass production (49.36 g) while T4 has recorded with highest stem girth (4.87 cm). There was a significant difference among soil pH, total N% and available P among treatments. T2 showed the highest total N% (0.19) while T4 showed the highest P concentration (18.94 ppm). The results revealed that locally produced hydrogels have given superior performance over commercial hydrogel in enhancing plant growth. It can be concluded that locally produced hydrogels formulation used in T2 and T4 can effectively be used in enhancing growth of maize while minimizing the risk than using imported commercial hydrogels.