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ALLEVIATING ADVERSE EFFECTS OF WATER STRESS ON YIELD OF SORGHUM, MUSTARD AND GROUNDNUT BY POTASSIUM APPLICATION

SHAHID UMAR

Abstract: The amount of soil moisture available to plants in arid and semi-arid regions is a major limiting factor for crop yield. Under such conditions, potassium fertilization proved helpful in mitigating the adverse effects of water stress. The interaction of plant K status and water stress on yield and water relations of mustard, sorghum and groundnut was studied. Plants were subjected to increased soil water stress conditions, tissue K concentrations analysed at peak growth stage (flowering) and relationships worked out between tissue K concentrations, yield parameters and relative water content. The water content of the leaf tissue was significantly increased by K application and the highest increase in RWC was 14.7 %, 17.4 % and 22.8 % under normal conditions, and by 8.7 %, 19.9 % and 17.7 % under water stress conditions in mustard, sorghum and groundnut, respectively. Water stress caused grain yield reductions and K application could enhance yield to a great extent. Production of above ground biomass, grain yield and RWC were highly correlated with the tissue K concentration, showing that concentration of K⁺ in leaves played a vital role in increasing water stress resistance and stabilizing yield in the crops studied.

Department of Botany, Jamia Hamdard, Hamdard Nagar, New Delhi-110062, INDIA

Corresponding Author: Shahid Umar; s_umar9@hotmail.com