The influence of different doses of hydrogel on the quality of seeds and the yield of faba beans

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of hydrogel on the growth, development, yield and quality of faba bean seeds. A positive influence of the TerrahydrogelAqua hydrogel on the yield of faba beans compared to the control, where no hydrogel was used, was noted. While increasing the dose from 10 kg ha-1 to 30 kg ha-1 had a positive effect on seed yield at both locations in the wet year (2014) (in Błonie also in the dry year 2016), it had no significant effect on the yield in the other years. The use of hydrogel, as well as increasing its dose, had a relatively small effect on the content of the major nutrients in faba bean seeds. An increased concentration of ash was noted in those faba bean seeds, in whose production a dose of hydrogel amounting to 30 kg ha-1 was applied. The use of hydrogel in faba bean production had a positive influence on the weight of one thousand seeds, the number of seeds, the weight of seeds and number of pods per plant and the number of seeds per pod, while increasing the dose of hydrogel had no significant effect on the number of pods per plant.