Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2018) 7(9): 3064-3071 3064 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.709.382 Efficacy of Pusa Hydrogel and Chitosan on Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Growth and Yield under Water Deficit Condition Anshu Sharan Singh, Richa Sharma * , Saad S. Burondkar and Shivam Dubey Department of Biological sciences, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad 211007, UP, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction On the basis of study of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007), future climate change is expected to affect agriculture, increase the risk of hunger and water scarcity, and lead to more fast melting of glaciers. The accessibility of freshwater in many river basins in India is likely to decrease due to climate change (Gosain et al., 2006). The implications of climate change on Indian water resources (Gosain et al., 2006) have measured the influence of climate change on the water resources of Indian river systems (Kalra et al., 2008) Under the situations of skewed water availability and its mismatch with demand, large storage reservoirs may be needed to adjust the natural flow of streams in accordance with the requirements of a specific region. The main rainfall in Indian climate is dominated by the southwest monsoon. About 80% of the rainfall in India occurs during the four monsoon months (June–September) with large spatial and temporal variations over the country. Such a heavy concentration of International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 09 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Drought, one of the environmental stresses, is the most significant factor restricting plant production in the majority of agricultural fields of the world. Wheat is generally grown on arid-agricultural fields. Drought often causes serious problems in wheat production areas. A field study was conducted on Central Agricultural field, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, U.P on wheat variety (HD-2967). Hydrogel and Chitosan were in use under different concentration to estimate the effect of hydrogel and chitosan on growth and yield of wheat under water deficit condition as hydrogel can retain large quantity of water and chitosan can reduce transpirational loss of water. In a twenty- one treatments and three replications along with control were laid out in randomized block design where Hydrogel (100%, 75%, 50% and 25%) and Chitosan (100%, 75% and 50%) were used. Growth, yield, physiological and biochemical parameters were observed. Result on crop growth and yield under water deficit condition was observed. Treatment T 9 (100% PH and 100% CHT) showed best results, however T 10 was statistically at par with T 9, while T 11 was found non-significant with T 0. Keywords Pusa hydrogel, Chitosan, Water scarcity, Growth, Yield Accepted: 20 August 2018 Available Online: 10 September 2018 Article Info