tailieunhanh - Seed priming with CaCl2 and ridge planting for improved drought resistance in maize

Drought-induced losses in crop output have forced the scientific community to develop efficient management strategies to cope with the adversities of drought stress. This field trial was done to assess the role of seed priming techniques and planting methods for improving drought resistance in Pakistani hybrid maize in 2011. | Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Turk J Agric For (2015) 39: 193-203 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Seed priming with CaCl2 and ridge planting for improved drought resistance in maize 1 1 1 1 2,3, Muhammad BISMILLAH KHAN , Mubshar HUSSAIN , Abid RAZA , Shahid FAROOQ , Khawar JABRAN 1 Department of Agronomy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan 2 Department of Plant Protection, Adnan Menderes University, Aydın, Turkey 3 Department epartment of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan Received: Accepted: Published Online: * Printed: Abstract: Drought-induced losses in crop output have forced the scientific community to develop efficient management strategies to cope with the adversities of drought stress. This field trial was done to assess the role of seed priming techniques and planting methods for improving drought resistance in Pakistani hybrid maize in 2011. Maize seeds were soaked in an aerated solution of CaCl2 (osmopriming; ψs – MPa) and distilled water (hydropriming), while untreated dry seeds were taken as controls. Primed and untreated seeds were sown on either ridges or a flat seedbed and were subjected to drought at vegetative and tasseling stages. Drought was imposed by stopping irrigation up to ~50% of field capacity (FC), while well-watered conditions (~75% FC) were taken as control. Drought at different phenophases, the tasseling stage in particular, impaired the root system, leaf score, yield-related attributes, and yield. Seed priming, osmopriming with CaCl2, mitigated the damaging effects of drought on the root system, yield, and related traits. Moreover, ridge sowing helped to maintain its supremacy, securing a well-developed root system, . greater root length and proliferation. This led to notable expansion in yield-related attributes compared with flat sowing under well-watered .