Abstract
High temperature during May to July is a major hurdle for production of sorghum as fodder in Pakistan, ultimately resulting in a deficit with respect to the demand of meat and milk for increasing population. A field study was conducted to investigate the impact of exogenous application of natural plant growth-promoting substances on forage yield and quality of sorghum. Seed priming and foliar application (alone or in combination) with 1% sorghum water extract (SWE), 3% moringa leaf extract (MLE) and water were applied. Two foliar applications, the first at one month after sowing and the second at 45 days after sowing were carried out. Untreated seeds were used as control. The results indicated that priming and foliar spray performed best in combination as compared to priming or foliar application alone. All MLE applications (priming plus foliar application, priming alone, foliar spray alone) enhanced growth parameters and chlorophyll contents, which ultimately improved forage yield and total dry matter production of sorghum plants. An increase in crude protein and total ash and decrease in crude fiber was also recorded in plants treated with MLE. The results of this study revealed that exogenous application of MLE at 3% concentration (priming plus foliar application, priming alone, foliar spray alone) significantly enhanced the yield through improvement in sorghum growth.
Highlights
Climate change is a major concern for future crop production and food security [1]
Keeping in view the effectiveness of natural plant growth promoting substances in growth and yield enhancement of various crops, the present study investigated the effects of exogenous application of natural growth-promoting substances on growth and forage yield of sorghum under high temperature stress
Our study showed that the maximum number of leaves (11) was produced by priming plus foliar spray with moringa leaf extract (MLE) compared to control (7), which was almost statistically similar (Table 2)
Summary
Climate change is a major concern for future crop production and food security [1]. The frequency of high temperature stress is likely to increase, which can reduce leaf area, photosynthesis, kernel weight and sugar contents of cereals [2]. High temperature stress for short time spans causes severe cell injury and even death [4], whereas mild heat stress (up to 35 ◦C) leads to enzyme inactivation in chloroplast and mitochondria, and protein denaturation along with cell membrane disruption [5]. This mild heat stress impairs photosynthetic efficiency by lowering Rubisco activity [6] due to heat susceptibility of Rubisco activase [7]. Ultra-high temperatures (>35 ◦C) destabilize photosystem II activity by inhibiting electron transport due to affected oxygen-evolving complex [8]
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