Annals of Biological Research

Growth and Yield Performance of Palak (Spinaciaoleracea L.) Plant Under Hydroponic Farming System for Sustainable Safe Food Production

Sandeep Kumar Pandey^*, Dhirendra Kumar Singh and Pandiaraj T Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Uttar Pradesh, India
^*Corresponding Author:
Sandeep Kumar Pandey, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Uttar Pradesh, India, Email: sandeeppandeynduat@gmail.com

Received: 29-Jun-2024, Manuscript No. ABR-23-140318; Editor assigned: 02-Jul-2024, Pre QC No. ABR-23-140318 (PQ); Reviewed: 16-Jul-2024, QC No. ABR-23-140318; Revised: 02-Jan-2025, Manuscript No. ABR-23-140318 (R); Published: 09-Jun-2025

Introduction

For plants, the soil is typically the best growing medium. It supports plant growth by giving it anchorage, nutrients, air, water, etc. There are many ways to define soil to serve various needs, but to an agriculturist, the soil is the medium for crop growth, an anchor for plants, and a source of nutrients, water, and air that plants need to survive. These soils however, frequently cause significant barriers to plant growth. Some of them include the existence of nematodes and disease-causing organisms, unfavourable soil reactions, soil compaction, inadequate drainage, erosion-caused degradation, etc. Additionally, the use of intensive cropping systems has come under scrutiny due to declining land and water resources, rising levels of residual toxicity in vegetables, the rapid growth rate of the urban population, and increased consumer awareness of organically grown foods. Because of their unfavourable topographical or geographical conditions, fertile, farmlands are scarce in many urban and industrial areas, where the soil available is limited for growing crops. In these contexts, the hydroponics method could be adopted successfully [1].

With the aid of nutrient solution, hydroponics is a technique for growing crops without soil [2]. The main benefits of hydroponics include its small area, ability to handle flows of any size, ability to completely eradicate weeds and soil-borne diseases, and efficiently utilize vertical space [3]. In areas of a country or regions of countries with little acreage and also in small countries with large populations, hydroponic methods provide fresh vegetables. It might be beneficial to give the native population enough fresh vegetables [4]. Soilless techniques consistently produced plants with higher quality, higher yields, quicker harvests, and higher nutrient contents [5]. Additionally, this system aids in the management of the production system for the effective utilization of natural resources and the reduction of malnutrition, which are both challenges caused by global warming [6].

Globally, leafy vegetables, followed by tomatoes, account for the majority of hydroponically grown crops. Palak (Spinaciaoleracea L.) is one of the healthiest leafy vegetables consumed worldwide [7]. Stated that Palak contains significant amounts of the carotenoid vitamins A, lutein, and zeaxanthin as well as dietary fiber, iron, and other vitamins and minerals. It also contains compounds like flavonoids that have high antioxidant properties. Additionally, Palak has choline and inositol, these two nutrients that alleviate the risk of arteriosclerosis, or artery hardening [8]. Although hydroponics depends on water heavily to operate, it is interesting to note that it uses 90% less water than traditional soil farming because the water in the systems is recycled until the crops are ready for harvest rather than being washed away in runoffs. Hence, this study was undertaken to evaluate the growth and yield potential of Palak under a hydroponics system [9].

Materials and Methods

Experimental site and details

An experiment was conducted at the College of Agriculture, Kotwa, Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India to study the effect of the hydroponics system on the growth and yield of the Palak plant [10]. The experimental site is located at 26º1’ N Latitude and 83º 8’ E Longitude with 84 m above MSL. This study was made during the winter of 2021-22. The maximum and minimum temperatures were ranging from 14°C to 28°C and 4°C to 16°C, respectively with an average temperature of 20.9°C during the experimental period [11]. The relative humidity ranged from 45 to 90% with an average RH of 68.38%. The average wind velocity was 6.2 kmph at the experimental study site. Palak var. All Greenwas selected for the experiment purpose [12]. The nursery for growing the Palak crop was established in the plastic portray in November 2021 and transplanted to the hydroponic system on 16th December 2021 [13]. The NFT hydroponic system unit is made of commercially available PVC pipe with a 4-inch diameter. Five equal lengths of 20 feet pipes with a distance of 25 cm were fixed on the frame of cast iron angle with the help of nut and bolt and 18 holes were drilled with help of a three-inch driller pit on each pipe to accommodate 18 plants in each row [14]. The three-inch planting mesh cups were used in the system to place the plant after filling the mixture of coco peat, perlite and vermiculite in a 3:1:1 ratio. The water and nutrient solution have been supplied by using a 500 L capacity water tank with sand and disc filter types. Throughout the experimental period, a pH of 6.5 to 7.3 was maintained [15].

During the study, the plant height (cm/plant) was observed from the bottom of the plant (close to the surface of the substrate) to the tip of the leaf as well as leaf characters such as leaf length (cm), leaf breadth (cm) and leaf number (leaves/plant) were measured from the first true leaf [16]. The fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots (g per plant) and root length (cm) were also measured from the experiment [17]. Using the critical difference test, the means of significant effects were divided. A 5% (P 0.05) level of probability was used for all statistical significance tests [18].

Results and Discussion

Plant height and leaf characters

The plant height of Palak showed a significant variation among the mean plant height of Palak grown in different rows under hydroponics system. The plant height ranged from 11.39 cm to 24.63 cm with a mean value of 18.80 cm (Table 1). The higher plant height was observed in this study from the 4^th row of the hydroponic system followed by the 3^rd row (21.89 cm). Because roots are responsible for nutrient uptake to support crop growth, this may be explained by Palak growing more effectively in soil-free and hydroponic systems [19]. The lower value of 11.39 cm plant height was observed from the 1strow plant. Sardare and Admane corroborated plants grown in hydroponics are healthier and more reliable as compared to plants grown in a field.

Table 1: Plant height and leaf characters of Palak plant grown under hydroponics system.

Similarly, the leaf area of the Palak plant in this study was found to be higher with a value of 61.06 cm² as recorded in the 4^th row plants of the hydroponic system followed by the 3^rd plants (Table 1). The least value of 19.39 cm² was observed from the plants growing in 1st rows. The length and breadth of leaves showed larger sizes (7.93 cm and 7.70 cm, respectively) in the corresponding plants could be the reason for producing higher leaf area in the 4^th row plants. The lower size of 4.93 cm and 3.93 cm of leaf length and breadth, respectively could be the result of the lower leaf area of the first-row plants. The mean leaf area in this study was 35.43 cm² indicating the plants growth was satisfactory when Palak grew in the hydroponics system. The number of leaves per plant significantly varied among the plants grown in different rows of hydroponics system. The mean number of leaves per plant was 60.23 in this study. A higher number of leaves per plant was observed from the plants grown in the 4^th rows (71) followed by the 3^rd row (65) and first row (61). The lower number of leaves per plant (48) was recorded in the 5^th row plants. The advantageous effects of controlled environments helped produce more yield in the hydroponic system. Gashgari et al., and Agarwal et al., reported that the productivity of vertical farming systems is higher than that of conventional systems. Jensen claims that the hydroponics method produces more lettuce yield than open fields do.

Leaf and root weight and root length

In this study, the fresh and dry weight of the leaf and root of Palak was recorded during the experimental period and given in Table 2. The fresh and dry weight of leaves per plant significantly differed among the plants grown in different rows of hydroponics system. The fresh weight of leaves per plant ranged from 19.54 g to 73.56 g with a mean value of 45.44 g. A significantly higher fresh weight of leaves per plant (73.56 g) was produced from the plants grown under 3^rd row of the system followed by 4^th row. Plants grown in the first row of the system showed a lower fresh weight of leaves per plant. The dry weight of leaves per plant ranged from 2.36 g to 6.73 g with a mean value of 4.62 g during the study. Corresponding to the fresh weight of leaves, the dry weight of leaves per plant was significantly higher with the plants grown in the 3rd row (6.73 g) followed by 4^th row (5.96 g). The lower dry weight of leaves per plant was found in first-row plants.

Table 2: Fresh and dry weight of leaves and roots of Palak plants grown under hydroponics system.

In contrast, the fresh and dry weight of roots was observed as higher with plants grown in 4^th row (21.45 and 6.40 g, respectively) followed by 3^rd row plants (18.51 and 5.05 g, respectively). The plants grown in the 5^th row showed a lower fresh and dry weight of roots per plant (9.69 and 1.50, respectively) which was statistically similar to the plants of 2^nd row (10.09 and 1.62, respectively). Plants that had been exposed to water treated in hydroponics had longer roots, which may have been a result of their natural inclination to spread their roots out into deeper areas of the growth medium in times of nutritional stress.

In addition, during the experiment, a higher root length was observed from the plants grown in the 2^nd row (22.9 cm) of the system followed by 4^th (17.23 cm) and 5^th rows plants (16.18 cm). The least value of 9.87 cm was noticed from the 3^rd row plants. The overall mean of root length in the hydroponics system was 16.00 cm in the experimental study (Figure 1 Root length (cm) of Palak plant grown under hydroponics system).

Figure 1: Root length (cm) of Palak plant grown under hydroponics system. Error bars represent standard error.

Dry Matter Production (DMP) and Shoot to Root (SR) ratio

Plants grown in the hydroponics method significantly varied their shoot and root dry matter production from 12.65 to 9.15% and 15.48 to 29.84%, respectively with a mean value of 10.76 and 21.38, respectively (Figure 2). Plants of 5th row (12.65%) could produce significantly higher shoot DMP followed by first row plants (12.08%). The lower value was true in the plants of 3^rd and 4^th rows as 9.15 and 9.42, respectively. It indicates plants of 3^rd and 4^th rows plants had higher moisture content and more succulency than first and 5^th rows plants resulting in lower DMP. However, plants of 4^th row had shown higher root DMP (29.84%) followed by 3^rd row plants (27.28%). The lower value of root DMP (15.48%) was observed with 5^th row plants. The crop grown in the water culture tends to produce more succulent leaves and contains more moisture content. In our study, the plants were found to be more moisture content and more succulent leaves.

Figure 2: Dry matter production of shoot and roots of Palak plant grown under hydroponics system. Error bars represent standard error.

Regarding the Shoot to Root (SR) ratio on a weight and length basis, the SR ratio on a weight basis ranged from 4.23 to 1.70 with a mean value of 3.15. Similarly, the SR ratio on a length basis ranges varied from 2.22 to 0.72 with a mean of 0.72 (Figure 3). The SR ratio on a weight basis, a significantly higher SR ratio (4.23) was recorded from the plants grown in the 2^nd followed by 3^rd rows (3.97) and lower in the first row plants (1.70). While the SR ratio on length basis, the higher SR ratio (2.22) was recorded in the 3^rd row followed by 4^th row plants (1.43). The 2^nd row plants (0.72) grown in the system showed a lower SR ratio.

Figure 3: Shoot to root ratio of Palak plant grown under hydroponics system. Error bars represent standard error.

Conclusion

The experimental results proved that the effect of hydroponically grown plants is superior to that of growing in field conditions as the height of the plants increased faster. The crops produce more leaves and more succulent leaves with high nutritive values. The crops in the hydroponics are exposed to less incidence of pest and disease problems thus safe to consume from any pesticide chemicals. However, the experiment should be extended on a larger scale in the future to investigate whether the hydroponic system will satisfy both present and future market demands as well as the long-term needs of the agricultural system for the well-being of people and the economy.

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