Innovative Seed Coating with Carrageenan-Agar Hydrogel to Enhance Water Retention and Drought Tolerance in Green Gram

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of hydrogel seed coating in Green gram. There were five polymers (namely xanthan gum, Carrageenan, Agar Agar, Carboxy Methyl cellulose and Gum Arabic), two concentrations (1,2&3 %), two dosages (20 ml& 40 ml) were studied in single polymers and blended as hydrogels in 1:1 and 3:1 combinations against the untreated seeds under 60 % water holding capacities of sand and PEG induced water stress and evaluated for seed quality characters. The best identified treatments were forwarded to field studies under moisture stress conditions for a period of 25 days after life irrigation and evaluated for biometric and yield observations. The results revealed that green gram seeds coated with 2 % Carrageenan Agar (3:1) blended hydrogel @ 40 ml / kg performed better in terms of seed quality parameters. The values recorded were 91 %, 24.37 cm and 2218 respectively for the germination, seedling length and vigour index and expressed promising effect in water stress mitigation by recording 15.70 % yield increase over the control.