Zn-priming of seed ameliorates biochemical and anatomical parameters of Cicer arietinum L. cultivars in drought condition

Abstract

Cicer arietinum an important legume crop is among the drought tolerant plants and cultivated for its rich nutritive value almost all over the world. The current research was led to assess the role of pre-sowing seed treatment with 0.05% ZnSO4 solution on the anatomical and biochemical characteristics of four varieties of Chickpea (i.e. CM 2008, FG 0902, DO 75-09 and Pb 2008) under three different maintained drought conditions. A pot experiment was performed in GCWUF. Seed priming with distilled water and 0.05% ZnSO4 solution was done. Overall, all cultivars exhibited high production of all biochemical nutrients and effective change in anatomical characters but CM 2008 and FG 0902 cultivars grown from ZnSO4 rimed seeds display tolerance under drought condition and gave higher values of various biochemical and anatomical parameters compared to plants grown from seeds primed with distilled water. However, Pb 2008 cultivar gave the minimum increase in values of biochemical and anatomical parameters among all cultivars under all field capacities. Keywords: Cicer arietinum, drought, stem anatomy, seed priming.