Effect of magnetic treatment on Inland saline water on the growth and yield of rice cultivation in Sivaganga District

Introduction

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is important staple food of India to feed the current population it is a need of hour to brought problematic irrigation water to cultivation. Based on the random survey and KVK soil analytic reports it found that some of the blocks in Sivaganga district worstly affected areas with varied degrees of EC levels (Electrical Conductivity) from 4.6 to 9.2 dSm -1 which does not permits the rice crop could not cope up to the estimated yield of 3.5-4.0 tonnes per hectare and whereas saline tolerant varieties were found as low performing. Magnetic technology can become a useful tool, as proved by many researchers, to tackle problems related to reduced crop productivity due to use of saline water in agriculture. Shrinking surface fresh water resources, increasing salinity of ground water, rising demand for water by urban and farming communities have made it difficult for planners to manage this precious resource to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. At present, about 85 per cent of India's fresh water resources are being utilized in agriculture and remaining 15 per cent in industrial and domestic sector (Minhas and Samra, 2004) [6] . Magnetized water applied to salty soil is reported to break down salt crystals and help in faster leaching of salts. With this background, the present investigation was conducted to study the effect of saline water irrigation with magnetic treatment on water quality parameters, plant growth and yield attributes and cost economics.

Materials and Methods

The present study was conducted at selected locations of farmer's field of Sivaganga District which is located in the southern agro climatic zones of Tamil Nadu. A total of five farmers field were selected based on the survey of water quality during the year 2018-2019 to study the effect of magnetized water on irrigation water quality, soil properties, growth and yield of rice. The crop sowing was taken in the rabi season and crop management was done based on TNAU Crop Production Guide. The variety used for the demonstration purpose is CSR 43 along with the farmers practice as BPT 5204. Each crop sown in area of 0.4 hectare before the sowing the green manure daincha was sown in the field and puddle into the 45 DAS. The trial was formulated in randomized block design with eight treatments with three replications and data were statistically analyzed. Five plants were selected at random from each plot for taking observations on growth and yield parameter of rice. A permanent magnet neodymium make with magnetic strength of 6500 gauss power which was rare earth magnet with inside arrangement 28 Nos., with halfback array orientation covered by stainless steel was used in this study for magnetizing irrigation waters. A separated PVC pipeline with ball wall is fitted for unmagnetized water. Water from the bore well separates two treatments namely magnetized water and unmagnetized water. The device can fitted with 2.5 inches pipe with length of 18 inches, OD Core Pipe of 60.3 mm and outer shell 114.3 mm. The pH of irrigation water was determined by using Systronics direct digital conductivity meter (Sparks, 1996) [7] . Electrical conductivity of the water was determined by using Systronics direct digital conductivity meter-304 (Sparks, 1996) [7] and total dissolved salts (dsm -1 ). The plant growth attributes were observed viz., plant height was measured from the base of the plant to the growing tip and the mean of five plants was taken in each plot and expressed in centimeter, number of productive tillers (nos.), grain yield (kg ha -1 ). The experimental site was irrigated by bore well water. Representative irrigation water sample was collected and analyzed (Jackson, 1973) [4] for various characteristics. The quality parameters of the irrigation water used in the present study are presented in Table 1.

Results and Discussion

The results of effect of magnetic treatment of inland saline water on pH, EC and TDS are presented in table 2. In the magnetically treated water, there are maximum four hydrogen bridge connections containing protons that spin to the same direction. These are called clusters. Water that is completely organized consists of clusters. The clusters are not stable but very sensitive and unstable units. The influence of the magnetic fields on water is reported to change the dimensions of that clusters, which affects the physical properties of water. When inland saline water passes through the magnetic water softner, the pH significantly decreased compared with magnetically untreated inland saline water. Whereas in ECiw is also get reduces when the water passed through the magnetic water softner of 1950 ppm to 1850 ppm respectively. Grewal and Maheshwari (2011) [2, 5] observed same changes in the physical and chemical properties of water (hydrogen bonding, polarity, surface tension, conductivity, pH and solubility of salts) due to magnetic treatment. They attributed change in pH to mainly changes in hydrogen bonding. The results of this study showed a significant increase in pH with magnetic treatment of saline water. Similar result was reported by Alkhazan and Saddiq (2010) [1] . When a magnetic field is applied to normal water it restructures water molecules into smaller molecule clusters each made up of six symmetrically arranged molecules (Maheshwari and Grewal, 2013) [2,5] .

Effect on plant growth attributes and grain yield of rice

The plant height, number of productive tillers, grain yield of paddy was significantly influenced by magnetic treatments as well as EC levels of irrigation water were presented in table 3.

The highest plant height (95.8 cm) was recorded in the magnetic water treated plants compared to magnetic untreated paddy.

Among the EC levels, the highest plant height was recorded in 4.6 EC water in both magnetic treated and untreated treatment (95.8 and 94.2 cm, respectively). Paddy crop with higher EC levels 8.3 recorded the lower plant height i.e. 88.5 (MT) and 82.9 cm (UMT) in both magnetic treated and untreated treatments, respectively. The Number of productive tillers per m 2 was significantly influenced by magnetic treatments of inland saline irrigation water (Table 3). The higher productive tillers (365) were recorded in the magnetic treated water compared to magnetic untreated paddy crop. Among the EC levels, the higher number of tillers was recorded in 4.6 EC water in both magnetic treated and untreated treatment (365 and 342, respectively). The rice yield was significantly influenced by magnetic treatment of inland saline water (Table 3). The highest grain yield was recorded in the low EC level 4.6 with magnetic treatment of saline water 6.3 t/ha compared to magnetic untreated paddy. Paddy crop with higher EC levels 8.3 recorded the lower grain yield of 3.3 t/ha and 1.75 t/ha in both magnetic treated and untreated treatments, respectively. Results of this experiments revealed that significant effects of magnetic field treatment on saline water quality and crop yield maize which was pay a way to use low quality water for irrigation under water scarcity conditions.

Cost Economics

The economics of paddy cultivation by magnetic treatment and non-magnetic treatment of Inland saline water is depicted in the Table 4. The highest gross income (Rs. 76200) is recorder in EC level of 4.6 with magnetically treated and the highest return per rupee invested was high in the magnetically treated inland saline water is 2.35 where as non-magnetically treated water was 2.14 only. The paddy crop could alleviate the adverse effects of low water potential induced due to salinity by quick ion uptake, accumulation of osmotically active solutes (osmotic adjustment) and other physiological adaptations. In tolerant species there is invariably exclusion of potentially toxic ions and accumulation of neutral organic solutes, which contribute to osmotic potential of the cytoplasm. It is established that there are significant physiological differences among susceptible and tolerant varieties of crops under salt stress and hence these could be of use in a proposition for their adaptation as economical crops under salt affected soils.

Conclusion

The results of present investigation could be concluded that Magnetized irrigation water with Eciw 4.6 dS m -1 (T 1 ) recorded the higher growth, yield of rice. The benefit cost ratio was higher in the magnetized water. Hence it may concluded that magnetized irrigation water along with Integrated crop management practices with CSR 43 variety may recommended to the farmer to get yield and income.

References

1. Alkhazan MMK, Saddiq AAN. The effect of magnetic field on the physical, chemical and microbiological properties of the lake water in Saudi Arabia. J Evol Bio Res. 2010;2(1):714.
2. Grewal HS, Maheshwari BL. Magnetic treatment of irrigation water and snow pea and chick pea seeds enhances early growth and nutrient contents of seedlings. Bioelectromagnetics. 2011;32:58-65.
3. Hamza AH, Sherif MA, Abdelmoez W, Abd El-Azeim MM. Impacts of magnetic field treatment on water quality for irrigation, soil properties and maize yield. J Mod Res. 2021;3:51-61.
4. Jackson ML. Soil chemical analysis. New Delhi: PrenticeHall of India Pvt. Ltd.; 1973. p. 1-498.
5. Maheshwari BL, Grewal HS. Magnetic treatment of irrigation water: Its effects on vegetable crop yield and water productivity. Agric Water Manage. 2013;96:122-123.
6. Minhas PS, Samra JS. Wastewater use in peri-urban agriculture: impacts and opportunities. Karnal, India: Central Soil Salinity Research Institute; 2004. p. 75.
7. Sparks DL. Methods of soil analysis, Part 3: Chemical methods. Madison, USA: Soil Science Society of America; 1996.