Abstract
Aim of study: To explore the role of ascorbic acid (AsA) or silicon (Si) in improving drought tolerance in five faba bean cultivars under irrigation water deficit (IWD).Area of study: The experimental farm; 30° 36′ N, 32° 16′ E, Egypt.Material and methods: Three drip irrigation regimes (WW, well-watered, 4000 m3 water ha-1; MD, moderate drought, 3000 m3 water ha-1; and SD, severe drought, 2000 m3 water ha-1) were applied to plants, which were sprayed 25, 40, and 55 days after sowing with 1.5 mM AsA or 2.0 mM Si vs distilled water as a control.Main results: Drought negatively affected physiological attributes (photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange parameters, relative water content, membrane stability index, electrolyte leakage (EL), and lipid peroxidation), which restricted plant growth and yields, and stimulated alterations in both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities. However, AsA or Si application mitigated drought effects on physiological attributes, improving growth, yields and water use efficiency by raising antioxidant activities and suppressing lipid peroxidation and EL in stressful cultivars. The mitigating effects of AsA and Si were more pronounced under MD.Research highlights: ‘Nubaria-2’, ‘Giza-843’, and ‘Sakha-3’ were more tolerant than ‘Giza-716’ and ‘Sakha-4’, suggesting the use of AsA or Si to ameliorate the IWD effects on stressful cultivars. Certain physiological traits exhibited positive association with growth and seed yield, demonstrating their importance in enhancing seed yield under irrigation treatments.
Highlights
Climate change is the major problem that threatens agricultural production in the 21st century
SD and MD significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decreased the contents of pigments related to photosynthesis (PRP: chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b) and increased the contents of osmoprotectants in the five faba bean cultivars compared to WW condition (Table 1)
It leads to accumulations of toxic ions, and disturbances in gas exchange attributes, thereby inhibiting development, growth, and production of different crop plants (Anjum et al, 2011; Kusvuran et al, 2016)
Summary
Climate change is the major problem that threatens agricultural production in the 21st century. Rainfall, light, and other climatic factors excessively reduce plant performances (e.g., growth and productivity) of many horticultural and field crops (Farooq et al, 2017; Chhogyel & Kumar, 2018; Conesa et al, 2018; Ray et al, 2019). Increased temperature and reduced precipitation lead to heat and drought stresses in many regions, especially in arid and semi-arid regions (Papworth et al, 2015; Li P. et al, 2018; Li J. et al, 2019). Irrigation water deficit (IWD) minimizes water content of plant tissues, leading to decrease in cell turgor and.
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