New gaur sowing technique can give 60% higher yield

NEW DELHI: An agriculture research body has developed a new technique for sowing of guar which it claimed resulted in increase of yield by 60 per cent without any hike in input cost.

Guar is a tiny size seed used for hydraulic fracturing in shale gas extraction. It is mainly grown in arid to semi-arid areas, and frequent rainfall is required for the plant.

"There has been a spell of dry monsoons and erratic cyclonic rainfall in the country. The foundation has developed a new methodology which has resulted in a significant growth in height of crop of guar up to 8 feet, which normally can reach to 5 feet," Ram Bajaj Foundation said in a statement.

An experiment was done in Madhav Diggi in Bikaner, over a span of 40 acres of land, the crop was sown in July this year and harvested at the end of October.

As per the findings of the experiment, sowing should be done from south to north direction and in sunny days in the months of July, August, September and October, the foundation claimed.

It also added that more seeds per bigha of land should be used so that plant helping bacteria can live in such hot conditions, while at the same time it will also reduce the cost of bio-fertiliser used.

India is one of the major producers and exporters of guar seeds. Guar gum, a derivative of guar seed, is widely used in oil drilling, paper, textiles, mining, explosives, ore floatation, confectioneries, ice creams, tooth pastes among other daily consumables.

The demand of guar gum by the crude oil industry has gone up four times since 2006. The total requirement of guar gum by the oil industry was estimated at 4,50,000 tonne in 2012.