International Journal of Agricultural Sciences

Volume 9 | Issue 2| June, 2013 | 716-718 RESEARCH PAPER

Growth and quality of blond psyllium (Plantago ovata Forsk)

influenced by phosphorus and sulphur fertilization

D.K. JAJORIA, A.C. SHIVRAN1 AND G.P. NAROLIA*

Directorate of Research, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology,
UDAIPUR (RAJASTHAN) INDIA
(Email : narolia.agro@gmail.com; jajoriadinesh@gmail.com)

Abstract : An experiment was conducted during Rabi season of 2002-03 to study the effect of phosphorus and sulphur fertilization on growth and
quality of blond psyllium. The results showed that application of phosphorus up to 20 kg P2O5 ha-1 wassignificantly increased the number of tillers
per plant, plant height and leaf area index, whereas, dry matter at harvest and husk recovery significantly increased up to 30 kg P2O5 ha-1 and all
the levels of phosphorus, remained at par with each other in respect to protein concentration in blond psyllium grain. Also significant improvement
in growth parameter viz., the number of tillers per plant, plant height, dry matter at harvest leaf area index and husk recovery of blond psyllium
were also observed with the application of sulphur up to 20 kg S ha-1.
Key Words : Blond psyllium, Phosphorus, Sulphur, Growth, Quality

View Point Article : Jajoria, D.K., Shivran, A.C. and Narolia, G.P. (2013). Growth and quality of blond psyllium (Plantago ovata Forsk) influenced by
phosphorus and sulphur fertilization. Internat. J. agric. Sci., 9(2): 716-718.
Article History : Received : 10.01.2013; Revised : 12.04.2013; Accepted : 13.05.2013

INTRODUCTION improves the quality and imparts resistance against diseases.

Blond psyllium is commonly known as isabgol. It is an
important cash crop which is cultivated for its export value.
Its seed and husk (bhussi) are used for medicinal purposes.
The seeds of blond psyllium are mainly valued for
mucilaginous rosy white husk. The mucilage comprises of
reserve carbohydrates mainly pantosans (Karawaya et al.,
1971). As a whole, India holds near monopoly in production
and export of blond psyllium to the world market and about
80-90 per cent produce is exported through, which about Rs.
100 crores are earned annually (Maiti and Mandal, 2000).
During 2003-04 the area and production of blond psyllium in
Rajasthan was 120954 hectare and 74147 tonnes, respectively,
with an average productivity of 613 kg ha-1 (Anonymous,
2003).
Phosphorus is the key element in the process involving
conversion of solar energy into plant food. It helps in early
root development and also enhances maturity. Application of
phosphorus not only increases the crop yield but also
It is a constituent of nucleic acid, phytin and phospholipids.
An adequate supply of phosphorus is required in entire life. It
also increase nodulation, crop growth and quality of plant
(Shrivastav and Ahlawat, 1993).
Application of sulphur also plays an important role in
crop production as it is an essential constituent of amino
acids like cystine, cysteine and methionine and essential oils.
It also helps in chlorophyll formation. In India 90 districts
have been reported to be deficient in sulphur, of them three in
Rajasthan viz., Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur (Tandon, 1991).
Hence, proper emphasis must be given on phosphorus and
sulphur requirement of blond psyllium.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The experiment was conducted at SKN College of
Agriculture, Jobner (Jaipur) during Rabi season, 2002-03 on
loamy sand soil. The soil pH was 8.2 and low in organic carbon
(0.25%), available nitrogen (129.14 kg ha-1), phosphorus (15.50

* Author for correspondence

1
Department of Agronomy, S.K.N. College of Agriculture, JOBNER (RAJASTHAN) INDIA
 D.K. JAJORIA, A.C. SHIVRAN AND G.P. NAROLIA

kg P2O5 kg ha-1), sulphur (7.3 ppm) and medium in potash
(152.7 kg ha-1). The treatments consisting of five levels of
phosphorus (0, 10, 20 30 and 40 kg P2O5 ha-1 and four levels
of sulphur (0, 10, 20 and 30 kg S ha -1) were laid out in
Randomized Block Design with three replications. An
uniform dose of 40 kg N ha -1 through urea and DAP,
phosphorus as per treatment through DAP and sulphur as per
treatment through gypsum were applied at the time of
sowing. The isabgol variety GI-2 was sown in rows 30 cm
apart with 6.0 kg ha-1 seed rate on November 7, 2002.
Five plants tagged for tillers count were used for
measuring plant height. The plant height was measured from
ground level to the tip of last leaf by metre scale at 60, 90 DAS
and at harvest. The mean plant height at each growth stage
was worked out. Five plants were selected randomly from
each plot, tagged permanently and total number of tillers per
plant were counted at 60, 90 DAS and at harvest and their
average were taken. In order to assess the influence of different
treatment on dry matter accumulation, plant samples were
taken from one metre row length in the second border row in
each plot at 30, 60, 90 DAS and at harvest. The samples were
first dried in air and then in oven at 650C till constant weight.
Thereafter, the samples were weighed on an electric balance
and recorded as dry matter per metre row length at respective
stage.
Crude protein concentration in seed was estimated by
nitrogen concentration multiplying with 6.25 (A.O.A.C., 1960).
One gram representative seed sample was drawn from the
produce of each plot for determination of swelling capacity of
seeds. These seeds were placed in 25 ml graduated stoppered
cylinder adding distilled water up to 20 ml mark and immediately
agitated for through wetting. The cylinder was allowed to
stand for 20 minutes, then agitated again for uniform
distribution of swollen seeds and was allowed to stand for 6
hours after which the volume of swollen seeds was recorded
and expressed in term of cc per g (Kalyansundaram et al.,
1982). The husk recovery for the seeds collected form each
plot was estimated according to the method suggested by
Kalyansundaram et al. (1980).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The experimental findings obtained from the present
study have been discussed in following heads:
Effect of phosphorus:
The successive increase in phosphorus levels up to 20
kg P2O5 ha-1, being at par with 30 and 40 kg P2O5 ha-1 recorded
significantly improved plant growth characters viz., numbers
of tillers per plant, plant height at harvest and leaf area index,
whereas, dry matter at harvest and husk recovery significantly
increased up to 30 kg P2O5 ha-1 and all the levels of phosphorus,
remained at par with each other in respect to protein
concentration in blond psyllium grain (Table 1). Phosphorus
plays an important role in root development and proliferation
Chatterjee (1969). It is the main constituent of co-enzymes,
ATP and ADP. Thus, phosphorus influences photosynthesis,
biosynthesis of protein and phospholipids, synthesis of
nucleic acid membrane transport and cytoplasmic streaming
increasing availability of phosphorus resulting into its
application is soil improved the nutrient availability resulting
into their greater up take. The reason for increasing protein

Table 1 : Effect of phosphorus and sulphur fertilization on growth characters and quality of blond psyllium
Plant stand / No. of Plant Dry matter per Leaf Protein Husk Swelling
Treatments meter row tillers per height meter row length area concentration in recovery capacity
length plant (cm) (g) index grain (%) (%) (cc g-1)
Phosphorus (kg P2O5 ha-1)
0 18.78 3.32 27.98 64.50 0.802 11.66 31.02 11.89
10 19.58 3.85 31.75 89.33 0.923 11.91 32.15 11.73
20 19.95 4.22 33.85 103.17 0.989 12.02 33.65 11.61
30 20.30 4.43 35.12 109.83 1.023 12.08 34.75 11.53
40 20.60 4.58 35.70 113.67 1.040 12.11 34.99 11.50
S.E.+ 0.49 0.08 0.50 2.19 0.018 0.15 0.36 0.11
C.D. (P = 0.05) NS 0.24 1.44 6.26 0.052 0.42 1.10 NS
-1
Sulphur (kg S ha )
0 19.16 3.43 27.91 79.47 0.778 11.75 32.04 11.84
10 19.75 4.04 32.56 94.80 0.951 11.94 33.15 11.67
20 20.11 4.36 34.89 102.80 1.030 12.04 33.94 11.57
30 20.36 4.49 36.16 107.33 1.072 12.09 34.46 11.53
S.E.+ 0.42 0.07 0.45 1.96 0.016 0.13 0.20 0.10
C.D. (P = 0.05) NS 0.21 1.28 5.60 0.047 NS 0.60 NS
NS = Non-significant

Internat. J. agric. Sci. | June, 2013| Vol. 9 | Issue 2 | 716-718

717 Hind Agricultural Research and Training Institute
 GROWTH & QUALITY OF BLOND PSYLLIUM INFLUENCED BY PHOSPHORUS & SULPHUR FERTILIZATION
concentration and husk recovery is due to higher absorption
capacity of nitrogen tended to improve growth. Similar findings
were reported by Patel et al.(1996).
Effect of sulphur:
There was no significant difference among sulphur
levels in terms of plant stand, protein concentration in grain
and swelling capacity (Table 1). The application of sulphur
up to 20 kg S ha -1 significantly increased plant growth
characters viz., numbers of tillers per plant, plant height, dry
matter accumulation at harvest and leaf area index and quality
parameters viz., husk recovery. This might be due to the fact
that application of sulphur improves not only the availability
of sulphur but also increase the availability of other nutrients,
which are considered vitally important for the growth and
development of plants. Application of sulphur has been
reported to help in lowering soil pH which is the principal
reason greater for availability and mobility of nutrients
(Morozov et al., 1976). The increased availability of nutrients
and enhanced photosynthetic rate and metabolic activities
might have resulted in improved plant height, number of tillers,
leaf area index, dry matter accumulation and husk recovery.
Islam et al. (1998) observed increased growth parameters with
the application of sulphur to crop plants.
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