Growth Stimulating Influence of Foliage Applied Brassica Water Extracts on Morphological and Yield Attributes of Bread Wheat under Different Fertilizer Regimes

Abstract

This study was conducted to explore the growth stimulating effect of foliage applied brassica water extract on growth and productivity of bread wheat (cv. Punjab 2011) at low and high fertilizer doses. The brassica water extract (5%) and the commercial growth regulator benzyl amino purine (BAP) (5 ppm) were applied alone and in combination at 30 and 45 days after sowing (DAS) under low fertilizer dose (125 kg ha-1 N and 90 kg ha-1 P) and high fertilizer doses (225 kg ha-1 N and 150 kg ha-1 P). Application of the brassica water extract (5%) significantly improved morphological traits such as crop growth rate, leaf elongation, leaf area index, plant height and number of productive tillers under both fertilizer regimes. Similarly, growth regulator benzyl amino purine (5 ppm) application enhanced the growth and yield components of wheat. However, maximum grain yield (6.20 t ha-1) was recorded with combined application of the brassica water extract (5%) and BAP (5 ppm) under the high fertilizer dose followed by individual application of the brassica water extract (5%) and BAP where 5.39 and 5.94 t ha-1 grain yields were recorded. Biological yield also showed an almost similar trend under the influence of the allelopathic water extract of brassica and BAP. Economic and marginal net benefits of 1521.6 and 237.0 USD ha-1 were respectively achieved with the application of the brassica water extract under the lower and higher fertilizer applications, respectively. The foliage applied 5% brassica water extract and BAP (5 ppm) was the most effective and had a stimulating impact on the growth and productivity of wheat.

Phytohormones Regulate Accumulation of Osmolytes Under Abiotic Stress

“…Many studies on BRs later confirmed their ubiquitous presence in the plant kingdom [92]. The imperative role of BRs in stress management has been explored in many plants subjected to temperature, water, salt, pesticide, and heavy-metal stresses [9,10,11,24,75,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100]. Osmolytes or compatible solutes have an important role in maintaining osmotic homeostasis as a protective mechanism during stressful conditions [101].…”

“…Phytohormones play an important role in various biochemical and physiological mechanisms in plants. Their role in alleviating abiotic stress is critical in providing tolerance to plants under adverse condition [5,9,10,11,23,24,25,26,27,28]. Since both osmolytes and plant hormones have been known to play major roles during challenging environments, it is therefore imperative to correlate both and to further elucidate the role of phytohormones in the regulation of osmolytes under abiotic stress.…”

Response of Phenylpropanoid Pathway and the Role of Polyphenols in Plants under Abiotic Stress

“…According to some reports, the projection of these stresses contributes significantly and affects the growth and productivity by reducing crop yield and overall crop production by 70% and 50%, respectively [21,22]. Thus, it is imperative to reduce the crop productivity losses by improving crop performance through various approaches, including application of plant bio-stimulant products as well as stimulation of plant secondary metabolism [11,23,24]. Plants need to endure different abiotic stresses and polyphenols accumulate in response to these stresses helping plants to acclimatize to unfavorable environments [25,26].…”

Nucleoredoxin Gene TaNRX1 Positively Regulates Drought Tolerance in Transgenic Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

“…Under different abiotic stresses, plants maintain their performance using various methods. One is to improve secondary metabolism, as the accumulation of secondary metabolites helps plants to alleviate the damage caused by various stresses ( Sharma et al, 2012 ; Shahzad et al, 2018 ). Phenylpropane-like metabolism is a typical representative of plant secondary metabolism.…”