An experiment was carried out at research farm at . Dholi, Muzaffarpur (Bihar) during Spring season of 2016-17, to study the efficacy of hydrophilic polymer on sunflower production. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with 3 replications. The experiment was comprised of a total of 7 hydrophilic combinations,. Sunflower hybrid KBSH-44 was used and among the hydrophilic substrates hydrogel and humic acid were applied @, while vermi compost @ and fly ash @ . Irrigation was provided based on calculation of available soil moisture. The results emphasized that application of FYM, hydrogel, vermicompost or humic acid along with RDF for nutrient supply and as source of moisture conservation have resulted in higher values of, head diameter, oil content and 100 seed weight compared to sole application of 100% RDF. The two - year spring season data also revealed that the seed yield and oil content of sunflower was influenced significantly by the combined effect of moisture conservation and nutrient source. Though magnitude of soil moisture variation was small, all the hydrophilic substrates maintained higher soil moisture compared to use of RDF only. The results of two - year experiments indicated that adoption of moisture conservation techniques through use of polymer hydrogel and application of organics like FYM or vermicompost are proved to be suitable from the point of both moisture retention as well as source of nutrients for nutrient exhaustive crop like sunflower. | Efficacy of Hydrophilic polymer on sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) production in spring
