Normal Irrigation Research Articles

Adoption of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and biochar for alleviating the agro-physiological response of lavander (Lavandula angustifolia L.) subjected to drought stress

Increasing the productivity of crops in water deficit circumstances is of great significance in order to face the challenge of securing global food production. Nowadays, the use of biochar (BC) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are considered as one of the most effective methods for empowering plants to deal with drought stress. However, the literature regarding the effects of the simultaneous use of AMF+BC on plants under drought stress is scarce. Hence, the present study was conducted to consider the combined application of AMF and biochar on the physiological and biochemical properties of lavender under various levels of irrigation. The first factor includes three irrigation regimes of 90 % field capacity (FC), 60 % FC, and 30 % FC, respectively, corresponding to normal irrigation, mild and severe drought stress. The second factor included a fertilizer or microbial inoculant source, which were respectively: no inoculation (control), inoculation with AMF, BC, and co-application of AMF along with BC. The highest nutrient, chlorophyll and carotenoid content, and fresh, and dry weight of lavender were recorded under normal irrigation conditions with combined application of AMF+BC. The combined application of AMF+BC was significantly effective in increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes against oxidative damage caused by drought stress and in reducing the accumulation of proline and malondialdehyde. An increase in phenolic, flavonoid, and concentration of essential oil was observed under mild stress and using AMF+BC, while the highest essential oil yield was recorded under a normal irrigation regime and treated with AMF+BC. The highest content of linalool, camphor, borneol, and linalyl acetate was obtained in mild stress by adding AMF+BC. It can be concluded that the use of AMF+BC combination treatment may be a useful strategy to improve the quantity and quality of lavender EO in drought-stress circumstances.

Effect of nano zinc oxide on the chlorophyll content of bean plants under drought stress

The mechanism by which nanoparticles are involved in drought tolerance responses in plants is complex and requires further investigation. Considering the important role of ZnO nanoparticles in plant defense systems, it is relevant to investigate the effects of these nanoparticles depending on the type of plants and their developmental stages. The results of our experiments have shown that ZnO nanoparticles can play a role in the drought resistance of bean plants. It is clear from the results that ZnO nanoparticles, when applied under normal irrigation conditions, have a positive effect on the height development of plants, reduce the vegetation period and keep the pigment content stable. The difference in the pigment content observed in our experiments during the growing season may be related to the formation of bean leaves in different layers at different times. It is interesting that in the plants subjected to drought stress (variant IV) where ZnO nanoparticles were applied, the pigment content remains stable, although the growth of the plants is not fast. , the growing season is shortened and pod formation occurs more quickly. In addition, Chl pigment degradation does not occur for a long time, the leaves retain their greenness.

Correlation, direct and indirect effects on grain yield of wheat genotypes under drought stress and normal irrigation conditions

Correlation, direct and indirect effects on grain yield of wheat genotypes under drought stress and normal irrigation conditions

Responses of Canola Cultivars to Application of Micronutrients upon Late-season Drought Stress

ABSTRACT There are different climate classes in Iran where about 85% of the agricultural lands are located in arid and semi-arid regions. To mitigate or compensate effects of drought stress and increase crop fitting and yield, effects of micronutrient application have been studied by several researchers. Field experiments were conducted during the 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 crop seasons to investigate the effect of micronutrients on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of canola cultivars under late-season drought stress conditions. The experiments were arranged in a factorial split-plot design, with two irrigation treatments – normal irrigation (control) or restricted irrigation at flowering stage – and four foliar applications of Zn and Mn after rosette stage (F1: Water, F2: ZnSO4, F3: MnSO4 and F4: ZnSO4 + MnSO4) as the main factor. Winter canola cultivars, including Okapy, Hyola401 and Hyola308, as sub-factor. The results showed that limited irrigation at flowering reduced seed yield, oil percentage and fatty acids content in different canola cultivars. Most of the canola oil is composed of unsaturated fatty acids, and the occurrence of drought stress at the reproductive stage reduced oil quality. By contrast, the minimum yield loss was obtained from Hylon401 cultivar, an early mature cultivar. Overall, it is recommended Hylon401 cultivar for normal irrigation and Hylon308 cultivar for a drought environment when considered the acceptable seed yield in canola. In general, it is suggested that a suitable performance of canola seeds is achieved by foliar application of manganese and zinc.

Manganese and zinc effect on yield, fatty acid ratio, and maternal seeds germination of canola cultivars upon late-season drought stress

To mitigate the effects of drought stress on fatty acid compositions and seed germination, various hypothesis have been studied by researchers. In this study, the field experiments were conducted in two cropping seasons (2020–2021) to investigate the effect of micronutrients on some characteristics of canola cultivars under late-season drought stress conditions. The experiments were arranged in a factorial split-plot design with three replications. The main factors included irrigation regimes (regular irrigation and irrigation interruption at the flowering stage) and foliar applications of Zn and Mn after rosette stage (F1: none application, F2: ZnSO4, F3: MnSO4, and F4: ZnSO4+MnSO4). The third factor included three cultivars, including Nima, R15 and KS7, as subfactor. Limited irrigation at flowering stage reduced length of seedling (25% and 17%), weight of seedling (30% and 14%), and seed yield (42% and 29) in first and second year, respectively. Irrigation withholding at flowering stage reduced seed yield by 37, 27, and 42% in R15, Nima and KS7 cultivars, respectively. Based on the current experimental data, irrigation withholding at flowering stage caused severe stress to the plants, especially those with long-term growth periods such as R15 and KS7. By contrast, the minimum yield loss was obtained from Nima cultivar, an early mature cultivar. Overall, it is recommended R15 cultivar for normal irrigation and Nima cultivar for a drought environment when considered the acceptable seed yield in new plants. In general, it is suggested that a suitable performance of canola seeds is achieved by foliar application of manganese and zinc.

Irrigation regime with organic and bio-fertilizers for faba bean production grown on sand clay loam soil

Water scarcity is a major challenge for faba bean production, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. This study investigated the effect of deficit irrigation and organic or bio-fertilization on faba bean yield and water use efficiency (WUE). The experiment was conducted in two consecutive winter seasons in Egypt, and the average results of the two seasons were presented because there were no significant differences between the two seasons. The experimental design was split-plot with three replicates in each season. The main plots were assigned to the amounts of irrigation water [3330 m3 ha−1 (I1), 2830 m3 ha−1 (I2), and 2330 m3 ha−1 (I3)] and the subplots were devoted to the fertilization treatments [control, humic acid (HA), fulvic acid (FA), and effective micro-organisms (EM)]. The results showed that the plant height and branch numbers were increased by 139.95 and 242.03%, respectively, for HA at irrigation treatment of I2 over the control. Adding HA increased chlorophyll and protein contents by 209.04 and 295.46%, respectively, over the control at irrigation regime of I2. Adding HA significantly increased pods number, pods weight per plant, and total green yield by 380.21, 314.51, and 420.28%, respectively, over the control. The WUE value was 4.51 kg m−3 by adding HA under deficit irrigation I2 compared to irrigation I3 (2.64 kg m−3) while the WUE value was 4.58 kg m−3 at normal irrigation (I1). Overall, the application of organic or bio-fertilizers, especially humic acid, could mitigate the negative effects of deficit irrigation and improve faba bean yield and WUE.

Combining ability and heterosis of spring oilseed rape genotypes under normal irrigation and drought stress conditions

Combining ability and heterosis of spring oilseed rape genotypes under normal irrigation and drought stress conditions

Overexpression of P5CDH from Cleistogenes songorica improves alfalfa growth performance under field drought conditions

Water stress affects the metabolic regulation and delays the growth and development of alfalfa, causing a reduction in biomass. New alfalfa germplasm was created with improved drought tolerance in greenhouse conditions by introducing the key gene P5CDH1 from C. songorica, a xerophytic grass. However, the field adaptability and response mechanism of new drought-tolerant alfalfa germplasms under water stress are still unclear. In the present study, the yield and quality traits of transgenic CsP5CDH1 alfalfa lines under water stress and normal irrigation conditions were measured and analyzed for two years. The genetic variance components of the tested traits were calculated from the data fitted by the mixed linear model. The plant height of all lines showed significant genotypic variation (σ2g) (P < 0.05), and the stem diameter, stem number, and dry weight of all lines had a significant genotype × environment interaction (σ2ge) (P < 0.05). The heritability (H) of plant height, stem diameter, stem number, dry weight and leaf-to-stem ratio of alfalfa lines were 0.87, 0.52, 0.59, 0.52 and 0.50, respectively. There were significant genotype × environment interactions (σ2ge) (P < 0.05) for the quality traits of all lines. The heritabilities (H) of acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber were 0.65 and 0.64, respectively. The results of transcriptional expression analysis with RNA-seq showed that the genes MsProDH1, MsProDH4, MsProDH5, MsP5CDH1, MsP5CS5, MsP5CS9, and MsP5CR1, which are involved in the proline metabolism pathway, played an important role in the drought tolerance of innovative alfalfa germplasm. Under water stress, with the regulation of key genes in the proline metabolism pathway, the proline content of all alfalfa lines increased to varying degrees. Among them, the proline content in the shoots and roots of transgenic line L6 was 7.29 times and 12.22 times that under normal irrigation conditions, respectively. The present study helped to clarify that the new germplasm of alfalfa transformed with the CsP5CDH gene synthesized a large amount of proline under water stress, and effectively slowed leaf water loss, thus improving the drought resistance of alfalfa.

New Insights for Promoting the Plant Growth and Germination and Applications in Agriculture

Drought is a generally prolonged period of dryness which creates significant damage to crops and prevents their effective growth. It can also refer to a prolonged period of extremely low precipitation, especially one that has a negative impact on growing or living conditions. Drought affects plants vary, depending on the various stages of the plant's growth and the duration, severity and frequency of the drought. During high concentration germination decreases with increasing level of drought. Water deficiency also reduces the dry biomass of seed and seedlings. Drought stress causes the decline in seedling of wheat. The field experiment was conducted by utilizing augmented block design. Augmented block design is used when a limited quantity of resources available for experiment. From upper position of the spike excluding awns to the soil surface in centimeter were noted before harvesting. Spikes from each plot were selected randomly and number of spikelets was counted starting from base of spike towards the spike end. Under drought, plant height, spikes, peduncle length of selected plants was affected and had significant differences during normal irrigation and rainfed conditions. Grain yield per plant had highly significant positive correlation spike length under water irrigation.

Organic seed priming with curtailed seed rate compensated wheat grains productivity by upgrading anti-oxidant status against terminal drought at flowering and milking

Terminal irrigation drought stress is one of the most drastic abiotic stress to diminish the wheat crop development and grains yield in arid regions of the world. The use of moringa leaf extract (MLE30) via seed priming technique is investigated as an organic and sustainable approach for the mitigation of drought stress along with curtailed seed rate in wheat crop. The study investigated the interaction of organic seed priming: control (dry seeds), hydro-priming, MLE30-priming, seed rate: recommended @ 125 kg ha−1, curtailed @ 25 kg ha−1, and terminal irrigation drought (TID): normal irrigation, mild-TID, severe-TID in wheat crop at agronomic research station, Bahawalpur, Pakistan during the wheat winter season of 2021–2022 and 2022–2023. The application of organic MLE30-priming with curtailed seed rate enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity especially total soluble proteins by 15%, superoxide dismutase by 68%, peroxidase by 16%, catalase by 70%, ascorbic acid by 17% and total protein contents by 91% under severe-TID. Yield and yield-related morphological attributes performed better in MLE30-priming as compared to hydro-priming. An effective trend was observed in the plant's chlorophyll contents, K+, and water use efficiency after being treated with MLE30-priming followed by hydro-priming under curtailed seed rate. The higher benefit–cost ratio and net income return were observed with the application of MLE30-priming with curtailed seed rate under mild-TID and severe-TID. So, it is suggested to adopt the MLE30-priming technique along with a curtailed seed rate for improving the crop establishment, stress regulation, and economic return under limited availability of irrigation water. The project findings recommended that the application of exogenous application of organic MLE30-seed priming favored and compensated the maximum wheat grains production under curtailed seed rate @ 25 kg ha−1 and induced terminal drought stress at flowering and milking conditions.

Selection of superior bread wheat genotypes based on grain yield, protein, iron and zinc contents under normal irrigation and terminal drought stress conditions

The selection of high-yielding genotypes with high micronutrient and protein contents can play a major role in reducing protein-energy and micronutrient malnutrition. In this study, 20 bread wheat genotypes were examined under normal irrigation and end-season water deficit stress conditions. The grain yield (GY), thousand-kernel weight (TKW), protein (PR), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) contents were determined. The data were analyzed using the genotype by yield*trait (GYT) biplot method, and the superiority index was calculated from the integration of all yield-trait combinations. According to the results, the polygon view of GYT biplot under normal irrigation conditions showed that G20 was the best genotype in combining GY with TKW and PR contents. The G19 was the best genotype in combining GY with Fe and Zn contents. Under end-season water deficit stress, G20 was the best genotype in combining GY with TKW and Fe content. In addition, the G6 was the best genotype in combining GY with PR and Zn. The average tester coordinate (ATC) view of GYT biplot showed that there is not any genotype that was higher than the average yield-trait combination. However, G20 and G19 were relatively superior to other genotypes in this study. According to the superiority index, G20 and G19 genotypes were superior. Based on our results, G20, G19, and G6 genotypes were the best genotypes in combining GY with all or some evaluated traits, in two conditions. Therefore, they can be considered in genetic biofortification programs or variety introduction.

Thiamethoxam Application Improves Yield and Drought Resistance of Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.).

(1) Background: Potato is the most important tuber crop in the world that can contribute to food security. However, the crop has been shown to be sensitive to drought and its yields decline significantly during successive periods of stress. Drought triggers a number of responses in potato, ranging from physiological changes to fluctuations in growth rates and yields. In light of global climate change, it is important to understand the effects of thiamethoxam on potato growth and yield under drought conditions. (2) Methods: The objective was to evaluate the impact of thiamethoxam on improving drought resistance and yield of potato under drought conditions. The drought-tolerant and sensitive-genotypes Qingshu No. 9 and Atlantic were used for a two-year pot experiment. Potato seeds were coated with 70% thiamethoxam before sowing (treatment group (T)), with a control group without treatment (NT). Two experimental treatments were applied: normal irrigation (ND) and drought stress (D). (3) Results: The results showed that root length, plant yield, chlorophyll content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity significantly increased under both genotypes, while malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline (Pro) content were reduced under thiamethoxam under drought stress. The best indicators were obtained in the comprehensive evaluation for the T-D treatment, suggesting that the application of thiamethoxam under drought stress was more effective than normal irrigation. (4) Conclusions: Our results suggest that the application of thiamethoxam improves potato growth, thereby increasing drought tolerance and potato yield. However, thiamethoxam is a neonicotinoid pesticide, and the limitation of this study is that it did not explore the ecological effects of thiamethoxam, which need to be systematically studied in the future. Moreover, considering the potential risks of thiamethoxam to the environment, specific agronomic measures to effectively degrade thiamethoxam residue should be taken when it is applied in agricultural production.

Role of Potential Plant Hormones for Activation and Enhancing Physiological Processes, Growth and Development

Plant hormones are chemicals that are present in small amounts, influence and promote the division, growth, and maturation of cells and tissues. Salicylic acid is a phenolic phytohormone and has a function in growth/development, photosynthesis, transpiration, ion absorption, and transport. By interfering with endogenous signals, SA mediates plant defense against pathogens. It strengthens the body's defenses against infections by promoting the production of pathogenesis-related proteins. It affects the systemic acquired resistance (SAR) pathway, wherein a pathogenic assault on one. Water deficiency affects during tillering, head emergence, filling of grain and maturity water deficiency of wheat. Concentration of carotenoids more during drought stress and that produced for drought tolerance enhancement in bread wheat. Water shortage on pigment contents of photosynthesis, relative water amount, shot weight in dried form, flag leaf area specific mass, parameters for gas exchange, physiological parameters and yield. Drought there more significant reduction in tillers/plant, fertile tillers/plant, length of spike, yield/spike and thousand kernel weight of wheat cultivars during drought conditions as compared with normal irrigation conditions. Polyamine exogenously via spray during grain filling condition. The water deficiency spermidine and spermine reduced the inhibition caused by water deficiency when polyamine had applied.

Agronomic performance of dual-purpose Sorghum bicolor (L.) hybrids under water deficit

This study aimed to assess the agronomic performance of five sorghum hybrids irrigated with two replacement levels of crop evapotranspiration (ETc). The experimental design was randomized blocks in a 5x2 factorial scheme with four replications. The factors were dual-purpose sorghum hybrids (AGRI 002-E, AGRI G1, AGRI G2, BREVANT SS318 and BRS 58) and water replacement levels (50% and 100% of ETc). The replacement of 50% of ETc was defined as water deficit (WD). The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, and sorghum was grown in pots. The mean comparison test showed that plants under WD condition had low values of height, stem diameter, leaf area, chlorophyll content, and a 37% reduction in shoot dry mass productivity. The analysis of principal components revealed that the correlations between the variables changed according to the water regimes. Under WD, water productivity, shoot dry mass, and leaf area index were highly correlated with each other and with the hybrid AGRI 002-E. The hybrid AGRI 002-E showed better performance under normal irrigation conditions, while under WD conditions, the hybrids BREVANT SS318 and BRS 658 also showed good performance. Hybrids with higher leaf area and water productivity performed better under water-scarcity conditions

Selenium nanoparticles conferred drought tolerance in tomato plants by altering the transcription pattern of microRNA-172 (miR-172), bZIP, and CRTISO genes, upregulating the antioxidant system, and stimulating secondary metabolism.

Drought stress is one of the major limiting factors for the production of tomato in Iran. In this study, the efficiency of selenate and Se nanoparticle (SeNP) foliar application on tomato plants was assessed to vestigate mitigating the risk associated with water-deficit conditions. Tomato plants were treated with SeNPs at the concentrations of 0 and 4mg L-1; after the third sprays, the plants were exposed to water-deficit conditions. The foliar spraying with SeNPs not only improved growth, yield, and developmental switch to the flowering phase but also noticeably mitigated the detrimental risk associated with the water-deficit conditions. Gene expression experiments showed a slight increase in expression of microRNA-172 (miR-172) in the SeNP-treated plants in normal irrigation, whereas miR-172 displayed a downregulation trend in response to drought stress. The bZIP transcription factor and CRTISO genes were upregulated following the SeNP and drought treatments. Drought stress significantly increased the H2O2 accumulation that is mitigated with SeNPs. The foliar spraying with Se or SeNPs shared a similar trend to alleviate the negative effect of drought stress on the membrane integrity. The applied supplements also conferred drought tolerance through noticeable improvements in the non-enzymatic (ascorbate and glutathione) and enzymatic (catalase and peroxidase) antioxidants. The SeNP-mediated improvement in drought stress tolerance correlated significantly with increases in the activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, proline, non-protein thiols, and flavonoid concentrations. SeNPs also improved the fruit quality regarding K, Mg, Fe, and Se concentrations. It was concluded that foliar spraying with SeNPs could mitigate the detrimental risk associated with the water-deficit conditions.

Effect of drought stress on natural rubber biosynthesis and quality in Taraxacum kok-saghyz roots.

Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TKS) is a potential source of natural rubber (NR) that can be grown in temperate regions with limited water availability. However, the effect of drought stress on NR production and properties in TKS isn't well studied. This study examined how different levels of drought stress (30, 60 and 90%) influenced the NR content, molecular weight (Mw), glass transition temperature (Tg), gene expression, and biochemical parameters in TKS roots. The results showed that drought stress didn't significantly change the NR content, but increased the Mw and the expression of CPT and SRPP genes, which are involved in NR biosynthesis. The NR from TKS roots (TNR) had a high Mw of 994,000 g/mol and a low Tg of below -60°C under normal irrigation, indicating its suitability for industrial applications. Drought stress also triggered the accumulation of proline, H2O2, MDA, and antioxidant enzymes (CAT, APX, GPX) in TKS roots significantly, indicating a drought tolerance mechanism. These findings suggest that TKS can produce high-quality NR under drought stress conditions and provide a sustainable alternative to conventional NR sources.

Prediction of wheat SPAD using integrated multispectral and support vector machines.

Rapidly obtaining the chlorophyll content of crop leaves is of great significance for timely diagnosis of crop health and effective field management. Multispectral imagery obtained from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is being used to remotely sense the SPAD (Soil and Plant Analyzer Development) values of wheat crops. However, existing research has not yet fully considered the impact of different growth stages and crop populations on the accuracy of SPAD estimation. In this study, 300 materials from winter wheat natural populations in Xinjiang, collected between 2020 to 2022, were analyzed. UAV multispectral images were obtained in the experimental area, and vegetation indices were extracted to analyze the correlation between the selected vegetation indices and SPAD values. The input variables for the model were screened, and a support vector machine (SVM) model was constructed to estimate SPAD values during the heading, flowering, and filling stages under different water stresses. The aim was to provide a method for the rapid acquisition of winter wheat SPAD values. The results showed that the SPAD values under normal irrigation were higher than those under water restriction. Multiple vegetation indices were significantly correlated with SPAD values. In the prediction model construction of SPAD, the different models had high estimation accuracy under both normal irrigation and water limitation treatments, with correlation coefficients of predicted and measured values under normal irrigation in different environments the value of r from 0.59 to 0.81 and RMSE from 2.15 to 11.64, compared to RE from 0.10% to 1.00%; and under drought stress in different environments, correlation coefficients of predicted and measured values of r was 0.69-0.79, RMSE was 2.30-12.94, and RE was 0.10%-1.30%. This study demonstrated that the optimal combination of feature selection methods and machine learning algorithms can lead to a more accurate estimation of winter wheat SPAD values. In summary, the SVM model based on UAV multispectral images can rapidly and accurately estimate winter wheat SPAD value.

Remote sensing estimation of sugar beet SPAD based on un-manned aerial vehicle multispectral imagery.

Accurate, non-destructive and cost-effective estimation of crop canopy Soil Plant Analysis De-velopment(SPAD) is crucial for precision agriculture and cultivation management. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms have shown tremendous potential in predicting crop canopy SPAD. This was because they can rapidly and accurately acquire remote sensing spectral data of the crop canopy in real-time. In this study, a UAV equipped with a five-channel multispectral camera (Blue, Green, Red, Red_edge, Nir) was used to acquire multispectral images of sugar beets. These images were then combined with five machine learning models, namely K-Nearest Neighbor, Lasso, Random Forest, RidgeCV and Support Vector Machine (SVM), as well as ground measurement data to predict the canopy SPAD of sugar beets. The results showed that under both normal irrigation and drought stress conditions, the SPAD values in the normal ir-rigation treatment were higher than those in the water-limited treatment. Multiple vegetation indices showed a significant correlation with SPAD, with the highest correlation coefficient reaching 0.60. Among the SPAD prediction models, different models showed high estimation accuracy under both normal irrigation and water-limited conditions. The SVM model demon-strated a good performance with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.635, root mean square error (Rmse) of 2.13, and relative error (Re) of 0.80% for the prediction and testing values under normal irrigation. Similarly, for the prediction and testing values under drought stress, the SVM model exhibited a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.609, root mean square error (Rmse) of 2.71, and rela-tive error (Re) of 0.10%. Overall, the SVM model showed good accuracy and stability in the pre-diction model, greatly facilitating high-throughput phenotyping research of sugar beet canopy SPAD.

Selecting iron and zinc nano-fertilizers for rice traits in drought by statistical analysis.

Optimum use of fertilizer plays an important role in increasing the performance of traits in rice and other agricultural products. The use of nano-fertilizers can be very important in the optimal use of fertilizer and in increasing the quantity and quality of agricultural products. To investigate the effect of iron and zinc nano-fertilizers on the physiological and morphological characteristics of rice plants (Tarom Hashemi variety) under drought stress conditions, a split plot experiment was carried out in the form of a randomized complete block design in three replications in Mazandaran region. The results of the combined analysis indicated that the effect of iron nano-fertilizer and zinc nano-fertilizer has a significant difference at the level of 0.01 and 0.05 in terms of all the evaluated traits. In the means comparison, it was concluded that normal humidity conditions can have a positive effect on the performance of the traits, but in the S1 stress conditions (drought stress at the rate of 50% of normal irrigation), the traits showed a good performance trend. Furthermore, increasing the amount of iron nano-fertilizer at the F2 level (Iron sulphate 100 kg/ha + 1 foliar spraying of iron chelate 2%) can be very effective in the growth of yield and the desirability of traits. In examining the amount of zinc nano-fertilizer consumption on the traits, showed the most positive performance on the traits at the level of Z2 (Use of 5 mg of zinc nano-fertilizer per kg of experiment soil), but with the increase to the level of Z3 (Use 7.5 mg of zinc nano-fertilizer per kg of experiment soil), this favorability was greatly reduced. The result of the correlation coefficients between the traits and the correlation diagram also showed a positive and significant correlation between the traits. In the graphical analysis, treatments tr33, tr8, tr19, tr24, tr7, tr6, and tr2 were selected as desirable treatments from the polygon graph. Treatments tr19, tr9 and tr6 were recognized as favourable treatments in terms of the treatment ranking diagram in terms of all traits. Based on the treatment selection diagram based on ideal treatment, tr19, tr9 and tr6 treatments were identified as desirable treatments. In general, it is possible to use tr19 (S1×F1×Z2), tr6 (N×F1×Z1) and tr9 (N×F2×Z0) treatments as treatments with high efficiency and power to increase the performance of traits and optimal use of nano-fertilizers in rice cultivation.

Evaluation of Doubled Haploid Maize Hybrids under Normal and Drought Condition

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of doubled haploid maize hybrids under normal and drought condition. Fifteen doubled haploid maize hybrids were sown in Research Area of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture Faisalabad by using Randomized Complete Block Design during spring 2019. The experimental area was divided into two blocks. Both blocks contain two replications of 15 hybrids. One out of these two blocks was treated with normal irrigations and second block was treated with drought. Data was recorded for various growth and yield related traits. To estimate the performance of doubled haploid maize hybrids under normal and drought conditions the recorded data was subjected to ANOVA by using the STATISTIX 8.1 software. LSD mean comparison test at 0.05% level of significance for hybrids and hybrids × treatment interaction was also calculated. Analysis of variance showed the significant difference among all the hybrids and also in hybrid × treatment interaction. Hybrids DH-26S × 3B and DH-100A × 21 showed maximum 100 grain weight (31.9g) under drought condition. Hybrid DH-100A × 21 showed maximum biomass (278.9g) under drought condition. Genetic advancement and heritability percentage were also calculated for all parameter and listed in the tables. The results showed that maximum genetic advancement was found in biomass; (56), (47) respectively under normal and drought condition.