Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 20(4): 431-435, October-December 2021

ISSN: 022-457X (Print); 2455-7145 (Online); DOI: 10.5958/2455-7145.2021.00054.0

Effect of moisture conservation practices on performance

of cluster bean under rainfed condition
N.K. PAREEK1*, S.L. GODARA2, ANAND KUMAR3, SHRI RAKESH4
and AMIT KUMAWAT1

Received: 14 July 2021; Accepted: 20 October 2021

ABSTRACT
Field experiment was conducted during kharif seasons to study the effect of moisture conservation
practices on performance of cluster bean varieties in rainfed condition. The 12 treatment combinations
comprised of four moisture conservation practices (30 cm row spacing, 60 cm row spacing, 60 cm row
spacing along with earthing by hand plough at 25 & 35 DAS and 60 cm row spacing along with hoeing
by wheel hoe at 25 & 35 DAS) in main plot and three varieties of cluster bean (RGC-936, RGC-1003 and
RGC-1066) in sub plots were laid out in split plot design with four replications. On the basis of two years
pooled data, results revealed that 60 cm row spacing along with earthing by hand plough at 25 & 35
DAS recorded higher plant height (164.15cm), dry matter accumulation (24.52 g/plant), more number of
pods per plant (63.5), seed (618.1 kg/ha) and straw (2268.33 kg/ha) yield, proline content (0.269 mg/g),
membrane stability index (24.7%) and relative water content (67.0%) as compared to rest of moisture
conservation treatments. Further, results shows that variety RGC 1066 recorded higher values of plant
height (157.67 cm), dry matter accumulation (23.51 g/plant), more number of pods per plant (68.9),
number of seeds per pod (6.6) seed (631.7 kg/ha) and straw (2281.81 kg/ha) yield, proline content (0.332
mg/g), membrane stability index (24.2%) and relative water content (67.5%).
Key words: Cluster bean, Moisture conservation, MSI, Proline, RWC

INTRODUCTION fluctuations due to erratic rainfall (Pathak et al.,

2009). Cluster bean highly tolerates to high
Cluster bean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L. Taub.),
locally known as guar, a member of Leguminosae temperatures and moisture stress conditions and
family and subfamily Papilionaceae, is a self- is adapted to arid and semi-arid climates
pollinated legume crop. It is a most important (Undersander et al., 1991). India, a leading exporter
multipurpose crop specially grown for feed, green of guar gum, contributes 75–80% to the global
fodder, dry fodder, vegetable, green manure, grain cluster bean basket followed by Pakistan, Sudan,
and gum. It is a drought tolerant, warm season and USA. In India during 2017-18, cluster bean was
legume crop with well-developed and deep root cultivated in 3.94 million ha and production was
system, cultivated mainly as rainfed crop in arid around 1.62 million tonnes with the productivity
and semi-arid regions during rainy (kharif) season. of 413 kg/ha (Anonymous, 2019). The main areas
Cluster bean grows upright, has a main single stem of cultivation of cluster bean in India are Rajasthan,
with either basal branching or fine branching along Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
the stem. Additionally, cluster bean develops root Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and
nodules with nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria rhizobium Andhra Pradesh. Rajasthan is a major cluster bean
in the surface part of its rooting system. This crop growing and producing state of the country by
is a major source of galactomannan (guar gum) and contributing around 72% and 80% of its area and
has numerous food and industrial uses. Seeds of production, respectively. In Rajasthan cluster bean
cluster bean contain 28-33% gum that is utilized in covers 2.84 million ha area and 1.29 million tonnes
almost all types of industries viz., textiles, paper, production with productivity of 452 kg/ha during
petroleum, pharmaceuticals, food processing, 2019 (Anonymous, 2020). It is mostly grown in
cosmetics, mining explosives, oil drilling etc. This districts of Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Sri Ganganagar,
crop is basically grown under arid rainfed Hanumangarh, Barmer, Jodhpur, Churu, Nagaur,
conditions and there were year to year huge yield Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Jalore, Pali, Sirohi, Jaipur, Alwar

1
Assistant Professor, 2Director, DHRD, 3SMS, KVK, Jalore, 4Senior Research Fellow, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural
University, Bikaner-334006, Rajasthan
*Corresponding author Email id: nkpnutrition@gmail.com
432 PAREEK et al. [Journal of Soil & Water Conservation 20(4)

and Ajmer etc. There is huge spatial and temporal conditions. At harvest, five plants were selected
variation in the cluster bean productivity in the state randomly to determine the plant height, dry matter
ranging from 196 kg/ha in Jaisalmer district to 1286 accumulation, yield attributes viz: number of pods/
kg/ha in Bharatpur district in kharif 2019 year and plant, test weight (1000 seed weight). Ten pods from
73 kg/ha in kharif 2009 to 584 kg/ha in kharif 2011 each treatment were taken, dried and threshed
in Bikaner district. Availability of moisture and separately. The seeds from theses pods were
suitable variety are the major factors affecting the counted and expressed as average number of seeds/
productivity of cluster bean especially in arid pod. Crop from whole plot was harvested to
regions. determine seed yield per net plot for all the plots
recorded in kilogram and converted in to kg/ha by
The dry land of India covers about 69% of the
using conversion factors.
total land area which experiences critical moisture
deficit during most of the growing period. In such Physiological parameters viz. Membrane
conditions, it is crucial to conserve soil moisture to stability index (MSI), proline content in leaves (mg
minimize crop failure and produce substantial g-1 of fresh weight) and Relative water content
yield. The low yield of cluster bean is mainly due (RWC) of leaf discs were determined according to
to cultivation of low yielding traditional varieties the methods of Premchand et al. (1990) and
with lack of knowledge of improved agronomical modified by Sairam et al. (1997), Bates et al. (1973)
practices. The increased availability of improved and Barrs & Weatherley (1968), respectively.
varieties also increases productivity of cluster bean. The analysis of data of the various treatments
The yield potential of different varieties of cluster was compared together using CD at 5% significant
bean may differ under different agro-climatic levels as per the procedure given by Panse and
conditions because of their genetic makeup. Use of Sukhatme (1967). Microsoft Excel 2000 was used in
improved varieties in addition to soil moisture statistical processing of the data.
management practices has been reported effective
in improving the productivity of cluster bean in RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
rainfed condition. This can be achieved through Growth parameters
appropriate practicing of moisture conservation
and crop management practices. Hence, successful The pooled data presented in Table 1 revealed
that significantly highest plant height (164.15 cm)
attempt was made to grow cluster bean varieties
and dry matter accumulation (24.52 g/plant) was
exclusively under rainfed condition with moisture
recorded with 60 cm row spacing and earthing by
conservation practices.
hand plough (25 & 35 DAS) which was at par with
MATERIALS AND METHODS 60 cm row spacing and hoeing by wheel hoe (25 &
35 DAS). On the contrary, the performance of cluster
A field experiments were conducted during two bean sown at 30 cm row spacing and 60 cm row
consecutive kharif seasons at Agriculture Research spacing was comparatively poor as evident from
Station, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural considerable reduction in all growth parameters.
University, Bikaner. The soil of the experimental Wider row spacing coupled with soil stirring in the
field was sandy loam in texture, saline in reaction form of earthing near the base of the crop plants at
(pH 8.2) and low in available N (112.5 kg/ha), active growth stage (25 and 35 DAS) help in
medium in available P (18 kg/ha) with low organic increased availability of soil moisture from high
carbon (0.12%) but high in available K (224 kg/ha). volume of soil near the plants. Further, the running
The experiment was laid out in split plot design of wheel hoe creates slight compactness in the space
with four replications. The 12 treatment between rows which reduce the evaporation losses
combinations comprised of four moisture from the soil and also make the soil moisture
conservation practices (30 cm row spacing, 60 cm available for longer periods. This increased
row spacing, 60 cm row spacing and earthing by availability of soil moisture along with nutrients,
hand plough at 25 & 35 days after sowing (DAS) favourably influenced the number of physiological
and 60 cm row spacing and hoeing by wheel hoe at processes like transpiration, photosynthesis and
25 & 35 DAS) and three cluster bean varieties (RGC- build-up of food material in the plant leading to
936, RGC-1003 and RGC-1066). The cluster bean increased growth in the form of plant height and
seeds were sown @ 15 kg/ha by line sowing. Other dray matter production. Higher field water use
agronomic management practices were adopted as efficiency and available soil moisture content was
per recommendations of the crop under rainfed also reported by Pareek et al. (2018).
October-December 2021] MOISTURE CONSERVATION PRACTICES 433

Table 1. Effect of moisture conservation practices and varieties on growth, yield attributes and yield of cluster bean under
rainfed condition

Treatments Plant Dry matter Pods/ Seeds/ Test Grain Straw

height accumulation plant Pods weight yield yield
(cm) (g/plant) (g) (kg/ha) (kg/ha)

Moisture conservation practices

30 cm row spacing 143.96 19.15 50.8 6.1 34.1 545.5 1883.48
60 cm row spacing 149.78 21.00 57.3 6.2 34.3 584.8 2054.89
60 cm row spacing and Earthing by 164.15 24.52 63.5 6.3 37.2 618.1 2268.33
hand plough (25 & 35 DAS)
60 cm row spacing and Hoeing by 159.63 23.48 60.1 6.2 35.7 587.8 2114.81
wheel hoe (25 & 35 DAS)
S.Em.± 4.23 0.47 3.8 0.2 1.3 22.5 76.94
C.D. (p=0.05) 14.63 1.63 12.1 NS NS 71.9 266.24
Varieties
RGC 936 149.53 20.88 49.3 5.9 34.6 490.9 1856.56
RGC 1003 155.95 21.72 55.6 6.1 35.2 620.5 2102.78
RGC 1066 157.67 23.51 68.9 6.6 36.2 631.7 2281.81
S.Em.± 2.43 0.47 1.6 0.1 1.0 21.4 83.43
C.D.(p=0.05) 7.28 1.40 4.6 0.3 NS 62.5 250.12

Among varieties, variety RGC-1066 registered favourable conditions produced by 60 cm row

significant higher value of plant height and dry spacing along with earthing by hand plough (25 &
matter accumulation as compared to RGC-936 and 35 DAS). Reduced surface runoff and reduced risk
RGC-1003. Significant differences between varieties of erosion and soil nutrients and also increased
in plant height and dry matter accumulation might water holding capacity of the soil under the
be due to their genetically differences in growth influence of wider row spacing and earthing by
habit of three varieties. The differential behaviour hand plough in this treatment. Pareek et al. (2018)
of cluster bean varieties with respect to growth also reported higher seed and straw yields in pearl
characters could be explained solely by the millet under the influence of zero tillage + ridging.
variation in their genetic makeup and adaptability
Further, cluster bean variety RGC-1066
to soil and climatic conditions. The results were in
close conformity with the findings of Garg et al. registered significant higher values of number of
(2003), Parihar et al. (2005) and Rawat et al. (2013). pods per plant and number of seeds per pod as
compared to other two varieties (RGC-936 and
RGC-1003). Significantly higher seed (631.7 kg/ha)
Yield attributes and yield
and straw (2281.8 kg/ha) yields were also recorded
Yield attributing characters and yield were with variety RGC-1066 as compared to RGC-936
influenced by moisture conservation practices and (490.9 kg/ha and 1856.6 kg/ha, respectively).
different varieties of cluster bean (Table 1). Cluster Sharma and Ratnoo (2014) reported that seed yield
bean sown at 60 cm row spacing along with of clusterbean differed with varieties. The
earthing by hand plough (25 & 35 DAS) resulted in differential behaviour of cluster bean varieties with
significant higher values of number of pods/plant, respect to yield attributes and yield could be
seed yield and straw yield as compared to 30 cm explained solely by the variation in their genetic
row spacing and remained at par with 60 cm row makeup and adaptability to soil and climatic
spacing and 60 cm row spacing along with hoeing conditions. The results were in close conformity
by wheel hoe (25 & 35 DAS) and it was 25.00, 13.30 with the findings of Garg et al. (2003), Parihar et al.
and 20.4 per cent higher over 30 cm row spacing, (2005) and Rawat et al. (2013).
respectively. This could be attributed to increased
light penetration, improved air circulation in the
Physiological studies
lower layers of the crop canopy, and reduced inter-
row crop competition (Sheoran and Rana, 2007). All physiological parameters differed due to
The number of pods per plant might have increased moisture conservation practices and different
due to lengthening of the flowering period in varieties of cluster bean (Table 2). Among moisture
434 PAREEK et al. [Journal of Soil & Water Conservation 20(4)

Table 2. Effect of moisture conservation practices and varieties on proline content, membrane stability index (MSI) and
relative water content (RWC) of cluster bean under rainfed condition
Treatments Proline MSI RWC
(mg/g fresh weight) (%) (%)
Moisture conservation practices
30 cm row spacing 0.358 19.1 58.7
60 cm row spacing 0.256 22.5 65.2
60 cm row spacing and Earthing by hand plough (25 & 35 DAS) 0.269 24.7 67.0
60 cm row spacing and Hoeing by wheel hoe (25 & 35 DAS) 0.227 24.3 68.1
S.Em.± 0.014 1.3 2.3
C.D.(p=0.05) 0.045 4.0 7.3
Varieties
RGC 936 0.242 22.5 61.3
RGC 1003 0.259 21.2 65.4
RGC 1066 0.332 24.2 67.5
S.Em.± 0.010 0.5 1.9
C.D.(p=0.05) 0.030 1.5 5.6

conservation practices, 30 cm row spacing recorded Variety RGC-1066 registered significant higher
significantly higher values of proline content over value of relative water content in leaf as compared
60 cm row spacing, 60 cm row spacing and earthing to RGC-936 but, it was on par with RGC 1003.
by hand plough (25 & 35 DAS) and 60 cm row Variety RGC-1066 has a high RWC, indicating that
spacing and hoeing by wheel hoe (25 & 35 DAS). it maintained cell turgidity even when the soil
Highest membrane stability index was recorded moisture content was low enough to cause wilting.
under 60 cm row spacing along with earthing by Korir et al. (2006) reported similar results. RWC is
hand plough (25 & 35 DAS) as compared to 30 cm one of the most essential drought resistance
row spacing, but it was at par with 60 cm row features, and it gives an indication of the plant’s
spacing and 60 cm row spacing and hoeing by water content status. High relative water content
wheel hoe (25 & 35 DAS). Results further shows under moisture stress indicates a plant’s ability to
that highest relative water content was recorded withstand drought (Ritchie et al., 1990).
under 60 cm row spacing along with hoeing by
wheel hoe (25 & 35 DAS) which was at par with 60 CONCLUSION
cm row spacing and 60 cm row spacing and
Growth and yield attributes, physiological
earthing by hand plough (25 & 35 DAS). In case of
parameters of cluster bean were influenced by
varieties, RGC 1066 accumulated more proline
moisture conservation practices and cluster bean
content than RGC 1003 and RGC 936. Accumulation
varieties. Moisture conservation practices, 60 cm
of osmotically active metabolites under low water
row spacing and earthing by hand plough (25 & 35
stress conditions is a common phenomenon in
DAS) and variety RGC 1066 were found better.
cluster bean and other crops. The accumulation was
Therefore, it was concluded that moisture
comparatively higher in drought tolerant variety
conservation practices, 60 cm row spacing and
as compared to susceptible variety. The drought
earthing by hand plough (25 & 35 DAS) and variety
tolerant variety accumulated more proline content
RGC 1066 could be high yielding under rainfed
and showed higher osmotic adjustment capacity.
condition.
Membrane stability index decreased signifi-
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