ANALYSIS OF GROWTH AND MORPHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF MORINGA OLEIFERA UNDER SALINE AND DROUGHT CONDITIONS

Abstract

The investigations were made on Moringa oleifera, a miraculous plant having an excellent nutritive and pharmaceutical importance, under saline and drought conditions. The effect of salt stress on morphological parameters under 200 mM NaCl concentrations including height of plant, number of leaves, root length along with their biomass were examined with the interval of 30 and 60 days, which significantly resulted in a decreased height of plant, number of leaves and their biomass. Hence, growing Moringa oleifera under highly saline conditions may not be recommended but it can be grown under moderate saline conditions. Growth, total biomass and physical parameters of the investigated plant were also analyzed under drought conditions. Treatment set was irrigated with 20% less than the total field capacity while control was irrigated with 100% according to total field capacity. Some growth parameters were measured after 30 and 60 days including stem height, number of leaves, root length and fresh and dry weights of stem, root and leaves. Drought stress surprisingly gave good results after 60 days of an increased tolerance with growing age, hence it showed that. It is a potential plant species to be planted in arid and semi-arid areas because of its drought loving nature.

Keywords

• moringa oleifera
• salt stress
• drought stress
• plant biomass