DROUGHT TOLERANCE OF COWPEA ENHANCED BY EXOGENOUS APPLICATION OF METHYL JASMONATE

Authors

  • Omid Sadeghipour

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17762/ijma.v7i4.77

Abstract

Drought stress limits crop productivity in many regions of the world. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) a plant growth regulator is involved in many plant growth and developmental processes and tolerance to environmental stresses. This field experiment was conducted to investigate the role of exogenous application of MeJA (seed priming, foliar application at the vegetative or reproductive stages and the combination of them) in alleviating the adverse effects of drought stress in cowpea. Results showed that drought stress severely reduced growth attributes such as plant height, leaf area, biomass and seed yield as well as stomatal conductance, relative water content (RWC) and chlorophyll value. Drought also increased membrane lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde ''MDA'' content), proline and total soluble sugars (TSS) contents. On the other hand, exogenously applied of MeJA improved all growth attributes under drought stress conditions through stomata closure and improving RWC, enhancing chlorophyll value, proline and TSS contents and also reduction of membrane lipid peroxidation. Among MeJA treatments, foliar application at the reproductive stage was the most effective. These results suggest the involvement of MeJA in increasing drought tolerance of cowpea by improving water status and chlorophyll value, enhancing compatible solutes accumulation and reducing membrane lipid peroxidation.

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Published

2020-09-10

How to Cite

Omid Sadeghipour. (2020). DROUGHT TOLERANCE OF COWPEA ENHANCED BY EXOGENOUS APPLICATION OF METHYL JASMONATE. International Journal of Modern Agriculture, 7(4), 51 - 57. https://doi.org/10.17762/ijma.v7i4.77

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Articles