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Pak. J. Bot., 47(3): 845-850, 2015.

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APPRAISING DROUGHT TOLERANCE IN LOCAL ACCESSIONS OF SESBANIA [SESBANIA SESBAN (L.) MERRIL.] USING BIOMASS PRODUCTION, RELATIVE MEMBRANE PERMEABILITY AND PHOTOSYNTHETIC CAPACITY AS SELECTION CRITERIA

ZULFIQAR ALI¹, MUHAMMAD ASHRAF^2,3, FAHAD AL-QURAINY³, SALIM KHAN³ AND NUDRAT AISHA AKRAM⁴

Abstract: In order to identify accessions/lines of sesbania [Sesbania sesban (L.) Merril.] which could produce high quantity of forage for livestock in hot and arid environments, eight diverse accessions (Shahpur, Sialkot, Khanewal 1, Khanewal 2, Sahianwala, Bhowana 1, Bhowana 2 and Chiniot) collected from different regions of Punjab, Pakistan were screened for drought tolerance using relative membrane permeability and photosynthetic capacity as selection criteria. Plant fresh and dry biomass and gas exchange characteristics [net photosynthetic rate (P_n), transpiration rate (E), sub-stomatal CO₂ conc. (C_i) and water-use efficiency (A/E)] of all sesbania accessions were affected adversely due to water shortage, but the response of all sesbania cultivars was not consistent to dry conditions appraised using different physiological parameters. On the basis of plant biomass production under dry conditions, accessions Shahpur, Khanewal 2, Sahianwala and Bhowana 2 were ranked as superior, whereas Sialkot was ranked as the poorest performer of all accessions, so the earlier accessions could be grown on arid or semi-arid soils with some plausible management practices.

Key words: Drought tolerance, Photosynthetic capacity, Sesbania sesban.

¹University College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan

^2,3Pakistan Science Foundation, Islamabad, Pakistan

³Department of Botany and Microbiology, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

⁴Department of Botany, GC University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Corresponding author's email: ashrafbot@yahoo.com