Impact of guar gum‐based hydrogel on yield and economics for sugarcane crops

Abstract

AbstractAccording to the current scenario, water crises are booming at a higher rate globally, affecting different demands such as agricultural, domestic, industrial, and so forth. Ultimately, such a water crisis may affect food safety. We have developed guar gum (GG)‐based hydrogel to help solve this issue with a water‐saving objective. This paper presents the application performance of newly developed GG‐based hydrogel on sugarcane crop growth, yield, and its economics. The crop water requirement and irrigation scheduling are also obtained using the CROPWAT model. Comparing different irrigation practices indicates that six irrigations can be saved by applying the CROPWAT optimization model, and up to three irrigations can be saved by applying different dosages of GG‐based hydrogel against the conventional method. Moreover, a set dosage application of 2.5 and 5 kg ha−1 of GG‐based hydrogel has elevated the cane height up to 8.67% and 10.02%, respectively. Furthermore, a considerable increment of 5.5% and 8% was found in the crop yield. In addition, the average soil moisture was found to be 10.50% and 17% higher over the field without hydrogel by using an indigenously developed Internet of Things–based SS316L soil moisture sensor. Applying GG‐based hydrogel (2.5 and 5 kg ha−1) saves the number of irrigations by two and three times, respectively. When it comes to the economy, the benefit–cost ratio for 2.5 and 5 kg ha−1 hydrogel dosages was found to be 2.64 and 2.09, respectively. Thus, GG‐based hydrogel shows substantial promise as a useful agricultural product for water‐saving purposes.