Abstract
A field experiment was carried out in the 2020–2021 growing season, aiming at investigating the abiotic stress tolerance of oat (Avena sativa L.) with silicon and sulphur foliar fertilization treatments and monitoring the effect of treatments on the physiology, production and stress tolerance of winter oat varieties. In the Hungarian national list of varieties, six winter oat varieties were registered in 2020, and all of the registered varieties were sown in a small plot field experiment in Debrecen, Hungary. The drought tolerance of the oat could be tested, because June was very dry in 2021; the rainfall that month totaled 6 mm only despite a 30-year average of 66.5 mm, and the average temperature for the month was 3.2 °C higher than the 30-year average. Foliar application of silicon and sulphur fertilizers caused differences in the photosynthesis rate, total conductance to CO2, transpiration, water use efficiency, leaf area, chlorophyll content, carotenoid content, thousand kernel weight (TKW) and yield of winter oat. The application of silicon significantly increased the photosynthesis rate (16.8–149.3%), transpiration (5.4–5.6%), air–leaf temperature difference (16.2–43.2%), chlorophyll (1.0%) and carotenoid (2.5%) content. The yield increased by 10.2% (Si) and 8.0% (Si plus S), and the TKW by 3.3% (Si) and 5.0% (Si plus S), compared to the control plots. The plants in the control plots assimilated less CO2 while transpiring 1 m3 water more than in the Si, S or Si plus S fertilized plots. The effect of the silicon varied from 9.0 to 195.4% in water use efficiency (WUE) in the three development stages (BBCH52, BBCH65 and BBCH77). A lower leaf area index was measured in the foliar fertilized plots; even so, the yield was higher, compared to that from the control plots. Great variation was found in response to the foliar Si and S fertilization among winter oat varieties—in WUE, 2.0–43.1%; in total conductance to CO2, 4.9–37.3%; in leaf area, 1.6–34.1%. Despite the droughty weather of June, the winter oat varieties produced a high yield. The highest yield was in ‘GK Arany’ (7015.7 kg ha−1), which was 23.8% more than the lowest yield (‘Mv Kincsem’, 5665.6 kg ha −1). In the average of the treatments, the TKW increased from 23.9 to 33.9 g (41.8%). ‘Mv Hópehely’ had the highest TKW. Our results provide information about the abiotic stress tolerance of winter oat, which, besides being a good model plant because of its drought resistance, is an important human food and animal feed.
Highlights
Oat (Avena sativa L.) is an important annual crop produced on a global scale as human food and animal feed [1]
The parameters of winter oat varieties were analyzed on the basis of a wide range of field measurements in three developmental stages (BBCH52, BBCH65, BBCH77) of the growing season
The analysis proved a connection between intercellular CO2 level and water use efficiency (WUE) (r = −0.745), photosynthesis rate and VPDleaf (r = −0.698), and transpiration and VPDleaf (r = −0.706)
Summary
Oat (Avena sativa L.) is an important annual crop produced on a global scale as human food and animal feed [1]. It is worth mentioning that oat is a versatile crop that can be grown under marginal environmental conditions, including cool wet climates and unfertile or arid areas [4] This variation is more pronounced at the genetic level since winter oat showed a 25–30% grain, biomass, and straw yield advantage over the spring oat varieties [5]. In most countries, the cultivated area and production volume of oats have progressively declined in the past decades [3,6], even though the demand for oat grain for human consumption has gradually increased, probably due to the dietary or nutraceutical benefits of whole grain [7] This implies that there is an enormous gap between oat grain supply and demand
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