Influence of hydrogel and nutrient management on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growth and development under limited irrigation conditions

Introduction

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the most important staple food crop of the world and emerged as the backbone of India's food security. It is grown all over the world for its wider adaptability and high nutritive value. (Singh et al., (2025) [10] . Among food grains wheat is the richest source of protein and it stands at second place after pulses. In general wheat contains carbohydrate (70%), protein (12%), lipid (2%), vitamins & minerals (2% each) and crude (Archna et al., 2023) [1] . In India, wheat is the second most important cereal crop after rice covering an area of 34.15 million hectares. Total annual production of wheat in India is 113.29 million tonnes with the productivity of 3.61 tonnes per hectare during 2023-24. India witnessed an all-time high wheat production during the year 2023-24. (Kumar et al., 2025) [3,6] . Wheat require appreciable amount of water on its different physiological stages of crop growth and development to expose higher potentials of yield of super quality. In wheat, irrigation scheduling is followed depending on the availability of water. Considerable area (86%) sown under wheat has an access to irrigation, however, crop sown in about 14-15 per cent of the area, which amounts approximately to 4 million hectares, depends on rain. (Kumar et al., 2019) [2] . The limited availability of water resources in arid and semi-arid regions poses a significant challenge to sustainable agriculture. (Kumar et al., 2025) [3,6] . Drought stress projected to cause up to a 30% reduction in global crop production by 2025. (Singh et al., 2024) [13,14] . Studies suggest that six irrigations at CRI, tillering, jointing, booting, milking, and grain formation ensure better yield, while four irrigations at CRI, maximum tillering, boot, and milking stages promote taller plants, more tillers, higher dry matter accumulation, better leaf area index, and improved growth rates compared to fewer irrigations (Shivani et al., 2003) [9] . Hydrogel are water-absorbing polymers that swell many times their size and act as water retention granules in agriculture. They improve soil water-holding capacity, enhance soil properties, and increase irrigation efficiency, especially in arid and semi-arid regions.

Their effectiveness depends on chemical properties like molecular weight. By providing better soil moisture and root growth conditions, hydrogels ultimately improve crop growth, water productivity, and yield.

Materials and Methods

The field experiment was carried out during Rabi season of 2021-22 and 2022-23 at Agricultural Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, R.B.S. College, Bichpuri, Agra (U.P.). The research farm is situated at about 11 km to the west of Agra on Agra-Bharatpur Road at latitude of 27º 02' N and longitude of 77º 09' E with an elevation of 163.4 m above the mean sea level. This region falls under south-western semi-arid zone of Uttar Pradesh. It was found that the total winter rainfall during the crop season amounted to 62.89 mm in 2021-22 and 108.3 mm in 2022-23. The variables involved in this study were four different irrigation levels as the primary plot treatments: I 0 (no irrigation), I 1 (a single irrigation at the CRI stage), I 2 (irrigation twice at the CRI and boot leaf stages), and I 3 (irrigation three times at the CRI, booting leaf, and milking stages) and six hydrogel and nutrient management levels were used as sub plot treatments viz. HNM 1 (75% NPK without hydrogel), HNM 2 (75% NPK with hydrogel @ 2.5 kg/ha), HNM 3 (75% NPK with hydrogel @ 5.0 kg/ha), HNM 4 (100% NPK without hydrogel), HNM 5 (100% NPK with hydrogel @ 2.5 kg/ha), and HNM 6 (100% NPK with hydrogel @ 5.0 kg/ha) thus, in all 24 treatment combinations were compared in a "split plot design" with three replications. Application of fertilizers, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers were administered as urea, DAP, and muriate of potash at the rates of 150, 60, and 40 kg/ha, respectively. The entire amount of phosphorus and potassium, along with half of the nitrogen, was applied during sowing, while the remaining nitrogen was added after the first irrigation. In order to determine the effects of different treatments, following studies were conducted. Growth studies: Number of tillers/m row length, Plant height, Dry matter accumulation (g), Leaf area index (LAI), Crop growth rate (g/m2/day) and Relative growth rate (g/g/day). [2] and Singh et al., (2024) [13,14] , During both the years (2021-22 and 2022-23), wheat plant height was maximum under four irrigations (I₃: 117.14 cm and 117.66 cm, respectively), which remained statistically at par with three irrigations (I₂: 116.88 cm and 117.36 cm, respectively). Both irrigation levels I₃ and I₂ were significantly superior to I₁ (112.81 cm and 113.10 cm), while the minimum plant height was recorded no irrigation I₀ (108.69 cm and 109.02 cm).The pooled data also confirmed this response, with irrigation level I₃ producing the maximum plant height (117.40 cm), statistically at par with I₂ (117.12 cm), while both were significantly superior to I₁ (112.96 cm). The minimum height was obtained irrigation level I₀ (108.86 cm). Thus, the increase in plant height irrigation level I₃ compared with no irrigation I₀ was about 8% in the pooled result, demonstrating the positive effect of irrigation on vegetative growth. This indicates that adequate water availability at critical stages of wheat growth ensured optimal cell elongation and vegetative development. Similar findings have also been reported by Kumar et al., (2019) [2] , Singh et al., (2024) [13,14] and Singh et al. (2024) [13,14] , Dry matter accumulation per plant was significantly influenced by irrigation levels during both years as well as in the pooled mean. During both the years (2021-22 and 2022-23 and pooled), the maximum dry matter accumulation in wheat was recorded under four irrigations (I₃: 97.85 g/plant, 97.91 g/plant and 97.88 g/plant, respectively), which remained statistically at par with three irrigations (I₂: 97.18 g/plant, 97.41 g/plant and 97.88 g/plant). Both irrigation levels I₃ and I₂ were significantly superior to I₁ (93.10 g/plant and 93.28 g/plant), while the minimum dry matter was consistently observed no irrigation I₀ (88.14 g/plant and 88.26 g/plant). These two treatments were significantly superior to irrigation level I₁ (93.19 g/plant) and the lowest with no irrigation I₀ (88.20 g/plant). Adequate water availability in irrigation levels I₂ and I₃ ensured continuous photosynthetic activity, better assimilate partitioning, and enhanced vegetative and reproductive growth, thereby leading to higher dry matter accumulation. Similar findings were also reported by Kumar et al. (2019) [2] , Lokendra et al., (2024) [7] and Verma et al., (2025) [17] . Leaf area index (LAI) of wheat at harvest was significantly affected by irrigation levels during both years of study as well as in the pooled analysis (Table 1 [11] , Singh et al., (2024) [13,14] and Kumar et al., (2025) [3,6] .

Leaf area index (LAI)

Leaf area

Effect of Hydrogel + Nutrient Management on growth parameters.

The number of tillers per meter row length of wheat was significantly influenced by hydrogel in combination with nutrient management during both years of study as well as in the pooled analysis (Table 1 [17] , who noted that integrated nutrient management combined with hydrogel application promoted higher dry matter production. [11] , Lokendra et al., 2024 [7] and Singh et al. (2024) [13,14] The effect of irrigation levels on crop growth rate were significant effect was noticed at 30-60, 60-90, 90-120 DAS and 120 DAS-at harvest during both year. Among the irrigation levels maximum crop growth rate (0.50, 0.51 and 1.18, 1.19 and 1.25, 1.24 and 0.139, 0.134 g/m 2 /day at 30-60, 60-90, 90-120 DAS and 120 DAS-at harvest respectively were observed in I 3 (Three irrigations, CRI + BL+ M). At 30-60 DAS crop growth rate recorded under treatment I 3 as at par with I 2 (two irrigation at crown root initiation + boot leaf) and significantly higher than the remaining treatment over both years. At 60-90 DAS treatment I 3 was at par with I 2 during 2021-22 and 2022-23. At 90-120 DAS and at harvest I 3 being at par with I 2 over both years was significantly superior over the remaining treatment. Minimum crop growth rate (0.43, 0.44 and 0.97, 0.98 and 1.23, 1.24 and 0.137, 0.129 g/m2/day at 30-60, 60-90, 90-120 and 120 DAS-at harvest) were found in no irrigation (I 0 ) throughout till maturity. Wheat crop growth rate was highest with three irrigations (CRI + Boot Leaf + Milking) followed by two irrigations, while the lowest was in no irrigation. Thus, 2-3 irrigations at critical stages are essential for better crop growth and yield. The increase in the crop growth rate (CGR) can be linked to the abundant availability of moisture., which enhanced nutrient uptake, resulting in fully turgid leaves and a greater number of larger green leaves, thereby increasing the leaf area index (LAI). These findings align with the research of Saren et al. (2004) [8] , Kumar et al. (2012) [4] , Vishuddha et al. (2014) [18] , and Kumar et al. (2015) [5] , who also observed peak growth indices during their studies.

Crop Growth Rate (CGR) Effect of Irrigation levels

Hydrogel +Nutrient management

The data summarized in Table 2 revealed that the application of hydrogel with nutrient management on crop growth rate was significant effect was noticed at 30-60, 60-90, 90-120 DAS and 120 DAS-at harvest stage over both years. Among the hydrogel levels maximum crop growth rate were observed in HNM 6 (100% NPK with 5.0 kg ha -1 hydrogel). Which significant effect was noticed at 30-60, 60-90, 90-120 DAS and 120 DAS at harvest stage. Among the hydrogel levels maximum crop growth rate (0.51, 0.52 and 1.17, 118, 1.26, 1.25 and 0.133, 0.134 g/m 2 /day at 30-60, 60-90, 90-120 DAS and 120 DAS at harvest) were observed in HNM 6 (100% NPK with 5.0 kg ha -1 hydrogel), respectively. At 30-60 DAS crop growth rate recorded in treatment HNM 6 as at par with HNM 5 (100% NPK with 2.5 kg ha -1 hydrogel) and significantly higher than the remaining treatment over both years. At 60-90 DAS treatment HNM 6 was at par with HNM 5 during 2021-22 and 2022-23. At 120 DAS and 90-120 DAS and 120 DAS-at harvest, the treatment HNM6 being at par with HNM5 over both years, was significantly superior over the remaining treatment. Minimum crop growth rate (0.44, 0.45 and 0.97, 0.98 and 1.23, 1.24 and 0.130, 0.123 g/m2/day at 30-60, 60-90, 90-120 DAS and 120 DAS at harvest) were found in HNM 1 (75% NPK without hydrogel), respectively over both years of investigation. The use of 100% NPK combined with hydrogel @ 5.0 kg/ha. The use of 100% NPK along with 2.5 kg/ha of hydrogel notably boosted growth indices, especially CGR. Consequently, the enhanced photosynthetic activity per unit area and increased dry matter production contributed to the rise in growth indices like CGR. These findings align with the research of Saren et al. (2004) [8] , Kumar et al. (2012) [4] , Vishuddha et al. (2014) [18] , and Kumar et al. (2015) [5] , who also observed the highest growth indices during their experiments.

Relative Growth Rate (RGR) Effect of Irrigation levels

The perusal of data (Table 3) revealed that the variation in relative growth rate at 30-60 DAS and 60-90 DAS, 90-120 DAS and 120 DAS and at harvest were not influenced significantly by irrigation levels over both years. Decline in relative growth rate higher in irrigation levels may be attributed to increased dry matter accumulation, which reduced relative growth rate when expressed per unit biomass. During the final phase, 120 DAS to harvest, Relative growth rate declined sharply across treatments. Similar result was observed in both experimental years, but differences among irrigation levels were not statistically significant. The results showed that while irrigation levels influenced the relative growth rate across growth stages, the differences were not statistically significant. Relative growth rate was higher irrigation levels I₂ and I₃ in the early stages (30-90 DAS), reflecting better moisture availability supporting active growth. In contrast, relative growth rate higher at later stages (90 DAS onwards) were noted under lower levels, largely due to lower accumulated biomass in those treatments. Similar results were also reported by Singh, et al.,

(2020) [15] , Singh et al., (2022) [12] and Singh, et al., (2025) [3,6] . Relative growth rate of wheat was not significantly influenced by hydrogel application with nutrient management at any of the observed stages during both years or in the pooled analysis, although differences were evident (Table 3). The higher relative growth rate application with HNM₁ and HNM₂ may be attributed to relatively lower dry matter accumulation compared with higher hydrogel treatments, which resulted in higher relative rates when expressed per unit biomass. At the final stage, 120 DAS to harvest, relative growth rate were very low across treatments, reflecting physiological maturity. The maximum pooled relative growth rate was observed application with HNM₁ (1.472 mg/g/day), followed by application of HNM₃ (1.451 mg/g/day) and HNM₄ (1.463 mg/g/day). Lower relative growth rate were recorded application with HNM₂ (1.394 mg/g/day), HNM₆ (1.392 mg/g/day), and HNM₅ (1.385 mg/g/day). Similar results were seen in both years, though differences remained non-significant. The results show that relative growth rate gradually declined with crop age across all treatments, irrespective of hydrogel application. While treatments with HNM₅ and HNM₆ to support higher relative growth rate during early stages (30-60 DAS), the later phases showed relatively higher values under lower hydrogel levels due to smaller biomass accumulation. Similar results were also reported by Singh, et al., (2020) [15] .

Conclusion

The results showed that three irrigations I 3 (CRI, booting leaf, and milking stages) with Hydrogel+Nutrient management (HNM 6: 100% NPK with hydrogel @ 5.0 kg/ha), significantly improved wheat growth and development under limited water conditions. This integrated approach enhanced tiller density, plant height, dry matter accumulation, and crop growth rate, making it the most effective practice for sustaining wheat yield in semi-arid regions.

References

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