Evaluation of potassium-enriched biochar and GA3 effectiveness for Improving wheat growth under drought stress

Abstract

Osmotic stress is a significant concern in agricultural crop production as it can harm crop growth, development, and productivity. Agriculture crops are particularly vulnerable to osmotic stress due to their reliance on water availability for various physiological processes. Organic amendments like activated carbon biochar and growth hormone gibberellic acid (GA3) can play a vital role. However, the time needed is to modify the established amendment to achieve better results. That’s why the current study used potassium-enriched biochar (KBC = 0.75%) with and without GA3 (15 mg/L) as amendments under no osmotic stress and osmotic stress in wheat. Results showed that GA3 + KBC caused significant enhancement in germination (9.44%), shoot length (29.30%), root length (21.85%), shoot fresh weight (13.56%), shoot dry weight (68.38), root fresh weight (32.68%) and root dry weight (28.79%) of wheat over control under osmotic stress (OS). A significant enhancement in chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll, while the decline in electrolyte leakage of wheat, also validated the effectiveness of GA3 + KBC over control in OS. In conclusion, GA3 + KBC is the most effective among all applied treatments for improving wheat growth attributes under no osmotic and osmotic stress. Further research is needed at the field level, focusing on various cereal crops, to establish GA3 + KBC as the optimal treatment for effectively mitigating the impacts of osmotic stress.

Optimizing chili production in drought stress: combining Zn-quantum dot biochar and proline for improved growth and yield

“…In recent times, drought stress has emerged as a primary environmental challenge, significantly impeding plant growth 1 . When plants face drought stress, their roots encounter difficulties in absorbing sufficient water, which consequently increases the rate of transpiration 2 . The impacts of drought stress are manifold, encompassing compromised growth, reduced yield, diminished membrane integrity, altered pigment content, disruptions in osmotic adjustment water relations, and impaired photosynthetic activity 3 .…”