WATER STRESS AND NITROGEN MANAGEMENT EFFECTS ON GAS EXCHANGE, WATER RELATIONS, AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY IN WHEAT

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted over two years to evaluate the gas exchange, water relations, and water use efficiency (WUE) of wheat under different water stress and nitrogen management practices at Crop Physiology Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Four irrigation regimes and four nitrogen levels, i.e., 0, 50, 100, and 150 kg N ha−1 were applied in this study. The photosynthetic gas exchange parameters [net carbon dioxide (CO2) assimilation rate, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance] are remarkably improved by water application and nitrogen (N) nutrition. Plants grown under four irrigation treatments as compared with those grown under one irrigation treatment average stomatal conductance increased from 0.15 to 0.46 μ mol m−2s−1mol during 2002–2003 and 0.18 to 0.33 μ mol m−2s−1mol during the year 2003–2004 and photosynthetic rate from 9.33 to 13.03 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1 and 3.99 to 7.75 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1 during the year 2002–2003 and 2003–2004, respectively. The exposure of plants to water and nitrogen stress lead to noticeable decrease in leaf water potential, osmotic potential and relative water content. Relative water content (RWC) of stressed plants dropped from 98 to 75% with the decrease in number of irrigation and nitrogen nutrition. The higher leaf water potential, and relative water contents were associated with higher photosynthetic rate. Water use efficiency (WUE) reduced with increasing number of irrigations and increased with increasing applied nitrogen at all irrigation levels.