Testing of Bio-efficacy of Granular and Liquid formulations of Humic Acid in Rice

Transcription

1 Report on the Project Testing of Bio-efficacy of Granular and Liquid formulations of Humic Acid in Rice Kharif 2006 Principal Investigator : Dr. Dalel Singh, Sr.Scientist (Soils) Co-Investigator : Dr. Mangat Ram, Agronomist Collaborator : Dr. Vishva Raj Singh, K.V.K.Karnal CCS Haryana Agricultural University Rice Research Station, Kaul (Kaithal), Haryana Sponsered by M/s.Ezzy International., 33, Bus Stand Corner, Khandwa Road, Khargone (MP)

2 CONTENTS Sr.No. Particulars Page No. 1. Introduction 1 2. Experimental site 2 3. Results 3 4. Economics of the product application 7 5. Conclusion 7 6. Certificate 8

3 Page 1. INTRODUCTION Rice is a major cereal crop grown on an area of about 42 million hectares in India. In Indo-Gangetic plains, including Haryana, rice-wheat is a predominant cropping system covering about 10.5 million hectares of land and contributes about 75% of the total food grains production in the country. These crops cover the largest proportion of the total irrigated cultivated land (60%). In Harayana, rice is an important kharif crop grown over an area of about 1.1 million hectares and most of the rice area is under rice-wheat system. The important rice growing zone in the state is the north-east zone particularly the districts of Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Panipat and Yamunanagar. With the availability of irrigation water, high yielding and fertilizer responsive varieties of crops and remunerative support prices, the area under both crops have increased tremendously. Productivity of rice and wheat crops in Haryana have increased due to adoption of modern input intensive production technology, particularly the increased use of fertilizers and other chemical input. Since past few years, it is observed that the green revolution belt has started suffering from production fatigue. The productivity of rice has more or less stagnated in many parts. It is mainly due to the fact that both the crops are exhaustive and remove more nutrients from the soil than are actually added through the fertilizers, thus depleting the essential nutrients of the soil which are hardly replenished in the intensive production systems. Farmers are not able to exploit full genetic potential of the crops due to poor soil health. Further increase in productivity may be possible with the introduction of certain organic products. Recently some organic products or bio-products are coming up in the Market, which may have favorable effect on yield of rice crop. Therefore, it is necessary

4 Page 2 to test the bio-efficacy of these products so that the suitable products could be recommended for application to the crop in order to increase the crop yield. The present investigations were carried out at Rice Research Station, Kaul (Kaithal) and at farmers field in the north-east zone of the state to test the bio-efficacy of Humic acid, a bio-product manufactured by M/s Ezzy International, Khargone (MP) with the following objectives: 1. To know the effect of bio-product on yield attributes and gain yield of rice. 2. To know the proper dose and time of application of the product. 3. To work out the economics of the product application in rice. EXPERIMENTAL SITE The investigations were carried out at Research farm of Rice Research Station, Kaul and at farmers field. The details of the sites is given as under: Rice Research Station, Kaul: The site is situated about 43 km North-West of Karnal on Karnal-Pehowa Road near the bank of Sirsa Branch canal. It lies approximately at North latitude and East longitude and at a altitude of 266 m above the sea level. The experimental farm and the farmers fields have a plain topography with a gentle to very gentle slope. The climate of the experimental sites is subtropical and semiarid with an average annual rainfall of about 700 mm, most of which is received from Southwest monsoon between the months of May to October. The soils of the farm are deep, poorly drained, dark brown (10 YR 4/3 moist) to very dark gray brown (10 YR 3.5/2 moist) in colour with texture varying from loam to clay loam (mixed hyperthermic Typic Ustochrept). The soil structure is moderately to

5 Page 3 strongly developed, sub-angular and angular blocky with mottling occurring throughout the profile. The soils are non-calcareous in nature. Farmers field: The soils of the farmer s field are sandy loam to clay loam and are Irrigated (tubewell) and are generally poor in fertility. The farmers generally use higher doses of inorganic fertilizers and other inputs to explore yield potential of the crop. RESULTS The results of the experiment at Research Farm and at farmers field are given as under: At Research Farm: The experiment on rice crop cv. HKR 47 was conducted at Research Farm of Rice Research Station, Kaul on a clay loam soil, low in available N, medium in available P and high in available potash to study the response of the crop to application of granular (Karishma G) and liquid (Kranti L) formulations of Humic Acid under various doses of applied fertilizer in soil. The crop was transplanted in a puddled field on July 10, 2006 with 36 days old seedlings at a spacing of 15 x 15 cm. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with 3 replications. Details of the treatments are given in Table 1. The data were recorded on plant height, number of effective tillers/m², number of grains/panicle, 1000-grain weight and yield (grain and straw), and were analyzed statistically. The recommended packages of practices were followed for raising the crop till maturity.

6 Page 4 Table 1: Response of rice crop to application of Humic Acid (bio-product) Treatment Plant Height (cm) No. of Effective Tillers/m² No. of grains/ panicle Grain Weight (g) Grain yield (q/ha) Straw Yield (q/ha) NF NF + humic acid 25 kg/ha (10 & 42 DAT) NF + Humic acid ml/ha (30 & 50 DAT) RF RF + Humic acid G (10 & 42 DAT) RF + Humic acid L ml/ha (30 & 50 DAT) RF + Humic acid G (10 DAT) RF + Humic acid L ml/ha (30 DAT) CD (p=0.05) NF= No fertilizer, G=granular formulation, L=liquid formulation, RF=Recommended fertilizer (150 kg N + 60 kg P2O kg K2O + 25 kg Zinc Sulphate per ha) Findings (Table 1) revealed that under fertilized (RF) conditions, double application ( at 30 and 50 DAT) of liquid formulation of Humic Acid (Kranti ml/ha increased grain and straw yield of rice significantly over RF alone, whereas single application of the liquid formulation as well as single and double application of its granular formulation could not increase the yield significantly over the control both under fertilized (RF) and unfertilized conditions. This increase in grain yield was 4.8 q/ha (6.3%) over RF.

7 Page 5 At Farmers field: The product was tested at farmers field in district Karnal with rice cv. HKR 47 under supervision of concerned scientist at KVK, Karnal and the findings (based on unreplicated data) presented in Table 2 revealed that application of granular formulation of Humic 25 kg/ha at 10 and 42 DAT along with RF increased the yield by 2.0 q/ha over RF alone. But the liquid formulation applied at 30 DAT along with RF could not increase the yield over RF Table 2. Response of rice to Humic Acid (G & L) at farmers field (Karnal) Treatments Grain yield (q/h) Recommended fertilizer (RF) without Humic Acid 68.5 RF + Humic Acid kg/ha (10 & 42 DAT) 70.5 RF + Humic Acid ml/ha (30 DAT) 67.5

8 Page 6 Table 3. Economics of Humic Acid application in rice Treatment Grain yield (q/ha) Increase in yield over control (q/ha) Whether S or NS over control Additional income over control (Rs) Cost of product (Rs) C:B of the procutct At Research farm RF (Control) RF + Humic Acid G NS kg/ha (10 & 42 DAT) RF + Humic Acid L S (30 & 50 DAT) RF + Humic Acid G NS kg/ha (10 DAT) RF + Humic Acid L NS (30 DAT) CD (P=0.05) *At Farmer Field RF (control) RF + Humic Acid kg/ha (10 & 42 DAT) loss RF + Humic Acid (30 DAT) loss S=Significant (statistically), NS= Not significant, C:B= Cost: Benefit ratio, *The yield data at the farmer field is based on unreplicated treatments and hence statistical significance of the yield data could not be tested. Cost of Humic Acid G=Rs Rs.50 (application cost) = Rs.1300/ha/application Cost of Humic Acid L = Rs Rs.200 (application cost) = Rs.575/ha/application Price (support price) of paddy produce : Rs.660 per quintal.

9 Page 7 ECONOMICS OF THE PRODUCT APPLICATION There was significant increase in grain yield of the crop due to the double application (at 30 & 50 DAT) of liquid formulation of the product at Research Farm, which resulted into a net gain of Rs.2678/ha and a C:B ratio of 1:3.3. However, at farmer field, the yield increase (though its statistical significance not tested) has resulted into a net loss of Rs.1280 by application of granular formulation of the product as compared to no Application (control) of the product (Table 3) and hence the C:B ratio was less than 1.0. CONCLUSION Application of liquid formulation of the ml/ha at 30 and 50 DAT Increased the crop yield significantly over control at Research Farm, resulting into a net gain of Rs.2678/ha. But increase in yield at farmers field (though its statistical significance not tested) was not sufficient to meet the cost of application of the product, resulting in loss of income. Therefore, from the results of the product in kharif 2006, it can be concluded that there is increase in crop yield due to application of liquid formulation of the product in rice at Research Farm only. Therefore, the product may be tested on rice crop at least for one more year to confirm these results and to make any recommendation of the product for rice crop.

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