Effects of Hydrogel on Physical and Chemical Properties of Soil

Abstract

This experiment was performed at the Rajiv Gandhi South Campus, Barkachha (BHU) Mirzapur, as a pot culture study, from November 2018 to March 2019–20. This experiment is a completely randomised design, taking three replications with six treatments, i.e., T1: Control, T2: 5 g kg-1 Hydrogel, T3: 10 g kg-1 Hydrogel, T4: 15 g kg-1 Hydrogel, T5: 20 g kg-1 Hydrogel, and T6: 25 g kg-1 Hydrogel. The soil was incubated with different doses of hydrogel for 120 days. The samples were collected after incubation, processed in a laboratory, and analysed for physical and chemical properties of soil. The results demonstrated that the use of hydrogel had a significant impact on the various soil properties, particularly the water holding capacity and bulk density of the soil. Other soil properties that were significantly influenced were particle density, porosity, electrical conductivity, soil available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. However, the application of hydrogel did not influence the pH of soil or the organic carbon content of soil. The application of hydrogel at a rate of 25 g kg1 showed the highest values of available N, P, K, and S content in soil as well as the water holding capacity. In some soil properties, the treatment containing 25 g kg-1 hydrogel was found to be statistically equivalent to that containing 20 g kg-1 hydrogel.