Our results suggested that plant growth and different physiological activities are restricted by drought stress and the application of super-absorbent polymer could conserve soil water, making same available to plants for increased growth and biomass accumulation especially under severe water stress. Thus, application of SAP is a suitable soil management practice for the locations characterised by severe water stress.
We investigated net photosynthetic rate (P N ) of ear and two uppermost (flag and penultimate) leaves of wheat cultivars Hongmangmai (drought resistant) and Haruhikari (drought sensitive) during post-anthesis under irrigated and non-irrigated field conditions. The P N of ear and flag leaf were significantly higher and less affected by drought in Hongmangmai than in Haruhikari. The rate of reduction in stomatal conductance (g s ) was similar for the two cultivars, but intercellular CO 2 concentration (C i ) in the flag leaf of Hongmangmai was lower than that of Haruhikari in non-irrigated treatment. No differences were observed in leaf water potential (ψ l ) and osmotic adjustment of the flag leaf of the cultivars. These results imply that differences in photosynthetic inhibition on the flag leaf at low leaf ψ l between the cultivars were primarily due to non-stomatal effects. Hence the main physiological factor associated with yield stability of Hongmangmai under drought stress may be attributed to the capacity for chloroplast activity in the flag leaf, which apparently allows sustained P N of flag leaf during grain filling under drought stress. The higher P N of ear in Hongmangmai under drought could also be related to its drought resistance.
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