Effect of Exogenous Salicylic Acid Foliar Spray on Growth, Yield and Chemical Content of Sesame Crop (Sesamum Indicum L.) Under Drought Stress
Effect of Exogenous Salicylic Acid Foliar Spray on Growth, Yield and Chemical Content of Sesame Crop (Sesamum Indicum L.) Under Drought Stress
Nask Jawher Ahmed and Kawa A. Ali*
ABSTRACT
Drought is an environmental constraint on plant optimum growth and development, which adversely affects yield of all crop. Salicylic acid (SA) induces the responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. A field experiment was designed in Randomized Complete Block having three replications to determine the effect of foliar application of (SA) on sesame plant vegetative parts under drought with focusing observation on morphological and physiological traits of sesame. The study was consisted in two different environments. Treatments were irrigation based on principal development stages according to the general BBCH (Biologische Bundesanstalt, und Chemische Industrie) scale, with three levels of water regimes: (a) control (full irrigations), (b) No further irrigation after flowering (65BBCH), and (c) No further irrigation after seed development (79 BBCH) stages of the crop. There were four concentrations of foliar applied salicylic acid: (a) Control (only water spray) and (b)100ppm, (c) 200ppm, and (d) 300ppm SA spray. Yield traits were observed including (plant height (cm), capsules (plant-1), seed (capsule-1), seed yield (kg d-1), thousand seeds weight (g), biological yield (kg d-1) and harvest index (%), along with some chemical components (oil (%), nitrogen (%), phosphorus (%), potassium (%), carbohydrate (%) and proline content(ppm). The results showed that adding SA has a significant impact on seed yield during drought in both locations, with the highest values recorded (320.47 kg d-1) and (327.56 kg.d-1) at 300 ppm of SA. In both locations, stopping irrigation after flowering (65BBCH) has a higher negative impact on seed yield than stopping irrigation after seed development (79 BBCH). The seed yield in Erbil was 231.53 kg d-1 and in Kifri was 353.38 kg d-1, indicating the adverse effects of drought, which were more clearly observed in the Erbil location than the Kifri location. The application of SA with a concentration of 300 ppm has enhanced seed yield with better adaptation of plants exhibiting drought at flowering and seed development in the plant life cycle.
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