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Foliar Spray of Silicon Confers Drought Tolerance in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by Enhancing Morpho-Physiological and Antioxidant Potential

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Abstract

Drought stress is one of the most severe environmental stresses and is a significant contributor to yield reductions in agricultural crops. Several agronomic approaches are recommended by the researchers and later followed by the farmers to minimize the drastic effects of drought. However, the exogenous application of plant growth regulators in combination with mineral nutrients is a recent, innovative strategy to overcome the damaging effects of drought. Here, we report a study aimed at investigating the protective effects of exogenously applied silicon (using potassium silicate or K2Si2O5 as a source) to improve drought tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown under field conditions. The present study was carried out at Agronomic Research Farm area, Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur. The experimental field was laid out in a randomized complete block design with split plot arrangements (RCBD-Split), and four repeats. The treatments included: T0 (control, water spray), and T1, T2, T3 i.e. foliar application of K2Si2O5 solutions at the rate of 1, 2 and 3%, respectively. The results showed that drought stress significantly affected the wheat yield by decreasing chlorophyll-a (1.07), chlorophyll-b (0.49), total chlorophyll contents (1.62), flag leaf area (38.33 cm2), plant height (100.17 cm), number of nodes per plant (3.91), tiller height (92.42), number of tillers m−2 (191.17), spike length (7.58 cm), number of spikes per plant (10.25), number of grains per spike (25.08), 1000-grain weight (36.66 g), total dry weight per plant (309.75 g), biological yield (23,424 kg/ha), and grain yield (4564.2 kg/ha). On the contrary, the foliar application of 2% K2Si2O5 considerably reduced the drought-induced damages by enhancing the chlorophyll-a (1.21), chlorophyll-b (0.64), total chlorophyll contents (1.92), flag leaf area (45.25 cm2), plant height (123.50 cm), number of nodes per plant (5.25), tiller height (99.42), number of tillers m−2 (276.26), spike length (12.92 cm), number of spikes per plant (14.25), number of grains per spike (38.33), 1000-grain weight (44.33 g), total dry weight per plant (385.00 g), biological yield (24,000 kg/ha), and grain yield (5074.8 kg/ha). These findings suggest that the exogenous application of K2Si2O5 could be utilized as a rapid, easy and effective approach to reduce drought-induced damages on wheat yield.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy, UCA & ES, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan

    Muhammad Aurangzaib, Muhammad Imran Jalil & Muhammad Kashif Ejaz

  2. Department of Botany, University of Central Punjab, Punjab Group of Colleges, Bahawalpur Campus, Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan

    Zahoor Ahmad

  3. Department of Agronomy, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, 66000, Pakistan

    Fahim Nawaz

  4. Institute of Crop Science (340h), University of Hohenheim, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany

    Fahim Nawaz

  5. Department of Horticulture, UCA & ES, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan

    M. Rashid Shaheen

  6. Department of Soil Science, UCA & ES, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan

    Maqshoof Ahmad & Azhar Hussain

  7. Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology Development, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China

    Muhammad Adnan Tabassum

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  1. Muhammad Aurangzaib
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Contributions

MA planned and supervised the research, MIJ conducted the research work; MRS and AH wrote the introduction part; MIJ and MKE wrote the manuscript; MA and MIJ did the statically analysis and graphical representation; ZA read the manuscript as proofreading and arrange according to journal style; FN provided reagents, assisted in the analytical work and improved the English language quality of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zahoor Ahmad.

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Aurangzaib, M., Ahmad, Z., Jalil, M.I. et al. Foliar Spray of Silicon Confers Drought Tolerance in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by Enhancing Morpho-Physiological and Antioxidant Potential. Silicon 14, 4793–4807 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-021-01271-5

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