Frontiers in Plant Science (May 2016)
Exogenous Application of Growth Enhancers Mitigate Water Stress in Wheat by Antioxidant Elevation
Abstract
TThe present study was conducted to investigate the response of two wheat cultivars (AARI-11 and Millat-11) to a foliar application of four growth enhancers which include: {H2O (water), MLE30 (moringa leaf extract), KCl (potassium chloride) and BAP (benzyl-amino purine)}, within the six irrigation water-regimes which are applied at the various critical growth stages such as crown root initiation (CRI), tillering (T), booting (B) and heading (H). Irrigation water-regimes include: CRI+T+B, CRI+T, CRI+B, T+B, T+H and control (CRI+T+B+H). The growth enhancers i.e. H2O, MLE30 (1:30), KCl (2%) and BAP (50 mg L-1) were applied @ 500 L ha-1 at tillering and heading stages. The results demonstrated some increased quantities of both enzymatic (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase) and non-enzymatic (ascorbic acid, phenol) antioxidants in leaves of AARI-11 when MLE30 was applied under T+B and T+H irrigation water-regimes. Similar results were also observed in the case of leaf chlorophyll a & b and K+ contents in both cultivars under control, T+B and CRI+T+B irrigation water regimes. AARI-11 produced the highest biological and grain yield, due to the application of MLE30 and BAP under control, CRI+T+B, T+B and T+H irrigation water-regimes. However, KCl lagged behind among the treatments set for both cultivars under all the irrigation water-regimes. Foliar spray of MLE30 remained prominent growth enhancer and stresses mitigating agent under water deficit conditions particularly under T+B and T+H irrigation water-regimes. Moreover, economic analysis indicated that the foliar application of MLE30 is a cost effective and environment friendly strategy for the maximum yield and income.
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