Effect of water stress on growth and dry matter partitioning ofConocarpus erectus

Abstract

Drought stress is the major problem in agriculture and ultimately affecting the landscapes, where ability to withstand such stress is of immense economic importance. In this research, three different water deficit regimes were employed on three-month-old Conocarpus erectus plants growing in green house conditions where 100% field capacity was achieved every other day (1-day interval) (control), while the rest of the treatments were 5, 10 and 15 days water intervals. A month later the plants were harvested every three months in sequential destructive sampling. Several growth parameters were measured including stem length, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area, number of branches, root length, fresh and day weight of leaves, stem, roots among others. Results showed that drought intervals overall had a significant effect on all the growth parameters studied. Generally, there was a sudden decrease in plant growth features at five days and it tended to be maintained after 10 and 15 days water application intervals. This experiment showed that at 5 and 10 days irrigation intervals, Conocarpus plants reduced growth to some extent but gave good results as compared to irrigation intervals of 15 days. Though, there was more reduction in growth under 15 days irrigation interval, visually it was quite acceptable. This study showed that these plants can easily be grown in water deficit areas with less water application before they establish.