Exploring the Application of Stress Modulators and Gibberellic Acid on Morphological Traits, Yield and Yield Components of Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) in Water-Deficiet Conditions

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. student of Medicinal Plants, Department of Horticulture, Birjand Branch, Islamic Azad University, Birjand, Iran

2 Associate Professor ofAgricultural, Medicinal Plants and Animal Sciences Research Center, Birjand Branch, Islamic Azad University, Birjand, Iran

3 Assistant Professor of Department of Agronomy, Iranshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Iranshahr, Iran

Abstract

In order to investigate the effect of stress modulator application on safflower tolerance to water deficit stress, an experiment was conducted at the Research Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources of Balochistan in delete 2020 and 2021. The experiment followed a split-plot design based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The main plot of the experiment consisted of three levels of irrigation, specifically irrigation after 70, 140 and 210 mm of cumulative evaporation. The sub- plot included six levels of stress modulators and gibberellic acid, namely no-foliar application, glycine betaine, proline, ascorbic acid, and tocopherol. Means comparison interaction effects between years under water deficit stress with foliar application showed that in the first year, the irrigation after 210 mm of cumulative evaporation with the application of gibberellic acid led to a significant increase in the number of seed per boll and seed yield by 11.7 and 13.44%, respectively. A significant increase was observed in the number of seeds per boll with ascorbic acid application, the number of boll per m2 with tocopherol application, and the seed yield with gibberellic acid application, by 13, 77.4 and 109%, respectively, in the second year as compared with no foliar application.Overall, the findings of this study demonstrate that the foliar application of stress modulators and gibberellic acid effectively mitigated the negative effects associated with irrigation after 210 mm of cumulative evaporation in safflower plants.

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