Review on the Development of Drought Tolerant Maize Genotypes in Iraq

Abstract

Stress is any physiological, physical or chemical change that leads to disturbance and imbalance in the plant. Water stress is one of the most important environmental stresses affecting plant growth and production. It is also known as the lack of available water in the soil to be absorbed by the plant at a stage of its growth, or the inability of the plant. On the absorption of water even if it is naturally present in the root environment due to the force affecting the holding of water molecules, as it was described as the state in which the amount of water absorbed by the roots is less than the water lost through transpiration from the vegetative system, meaning that it is the state in which the effort The water content of the plant and the fullness of its cells is low to a degree that affects the conduct of vital and physiological processes. During the occurrence of water stress, as the term “drought” is not accurate in the sense used, but it is sometimes expressed as the phenomenon of water shortage as a result of climatic elements of multiple weather conditions, As for the agricultural concept of drought (Agricultural Drought), it is according to the growth and formation of the crop, and it is assumed that it begins when the ready water is drained from the root zone, plant goes through three stages: First stage increases the water loss and the transpiration process until it reaches a point where the amount of water lost by transpiration exceeds the amount of water absorbed by the roots. On the water balance between these two processes in adaptation, and when the water stress intensifies, the plant moves to the third stage, after which the plants lose a large part of the water through transpiration, the stomata are closed and the photosynthesis process stops. Therefore water stress (drought) alone is one of the most influential environmental stresses in reducing maize productivity, Therefore, the role of the plant breeder came through the implementation of breeding programs for hybridization and selection until it obtains a plant adapted to drought through the occurrence of morphological changes that make plants phenotypically adaptable to conditions of lack of water and includes an increase in root size and reduction of leaf area.