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EFFECT OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS AND DROUGHT STRESS ON GROUNDNUT (ARACHIS HYPOGAEA L.) GENOTYPES

AYUB KHAN^1*, JEHAN BAKHT², ASGAHRI BANO³ AND NASRULLAH JAN MALIK⁴
 

Abstract: Experiments were carried out to investigate the physiological (dry weight of root, stem, peg, flowers plant^-1, fruits sets percent, pod yield (kg plot^-1), 100-kernel weight,  days to flowering and maturity) and biochemical (endogenous proline level) traits of groundnut cultivar Swat Phalli-96 under drought stress. The result showed that drought stress significantly (p < 0.05) reduced  dry weight of root, peg/flowers plant^-1, fruits sets percent, pod yield (kg plot^-1), 100-kernel weight, days to flowering and  maturity. GA and IAA applied as seed treatment or foliar spray had no significant (p>0.05) effect on various parameters under drought stress conditions. Foliar application of ABA (10^-4 M) partially reduced the adverse effect of drought stress on growth and yield components. Foliar application of ABA to plants when subsequently exposed to drought stress resulted in elevated levels of endogenous shoot and root proline levels.

¹Agricultural Research Institute (N), Mingora, Swat, KPK, Pakistan.
²Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, KPK Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan.
³Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-E-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
⁴Agriculture Research System, Agricultural University Peshawar, KPK, Pakistan.