Physiology of Indian Crop Plants

Abstract

FOR some time past, the staff of the Institute of Agricultural Research of the Benares Hindu Univer-sity has been engaged, under the leadership of Prof. B. N. Singh, in detailed and comparative studies of the physiology of Indian crop plants. A considerable number of publications on this subject has now been issued, mainly in the Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, and good progress has evidently been made in a highly interesting and important field of work. The most extensive work completed is that dealing with photosynthesis under different conditions of light, temperature and carbon dioxide supply. Since a large part of previous research on this subject has been carried out in temperate climates, it will be obvious that detailed studies of tropical plants are likely to be of considerable value. One striking result of this work is that tropical plants are found to have a higher light requirement in photosynthesis than similar species grown under temperate climatic conditions. Another especially interesting problem under investigation is that of the differences in respiration rate found to exist in plants differing in their duration of life. Short-lived plants are appar-ently characterised by a low respiration rate, which also falls off very rapidly as the age of the plant increases. Long-lived plants, on the other hand, not only have a high respiration rate but also are able to maintain this higher rate throughout life. Other subjects under investigation by comparative methods include the water requirements of seeds possessing different structural and biochemical properties, and the effects on plant growth of irradiating seeds with X-rays.