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Alleviation of drought stress in maize by exogenous application of gibberellic acid and cytokinin

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Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the ameliorative roles of GA3 and CK on adverse effects of drought in maize. Drought stressed maize plants were applied with GA3 and CK at 50, 100, and 150 mg L−l as foliar spray at the vegetative and the reproductive stages. Plant height, internode length, stem diameter, leaf chlorophyll index, and dry matter production were significantly affected by drought. In most cases, GA3 and CK significantly improved the depressed plant traits, but in varying degrees depending on the growth stage encountering hormones, and their types and concentrations. Both GA3 and CK were found to be very effective in alleviating drought-imposed adverse effects on maize at the vegetative phase. Such alleviating effects varied depending on the concentration of the hormones. Application of CK at 150 mg L−l was excellent resulting in a 106% yield advantage compared to drought stress and 79.9% increase relative to well-watered controls. Conversely, GA3 at 50 mg L−l performed well showing 78.8% increase in grain yield. However, both GA3 and CK had very little effect on improving the depressed growth and yield attributes in maize at the reproductive phase. The relative yield advantages for the hormones were mainly attributed to improving the cob and seed-bearing capacity of drought-stressed maize plants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, 1706, Bangladesh

    Nurunnaher Akter, M. Rafiqul Islam & M. Abdul Karim

  2. Department of Crop Botany, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, 1706, Bangladesh

    Tofazzal Hossain

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  1. Nurunnaher Akter
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  2. M. Rafiqul Islam
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  3. M. Abdul Karim
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  4. Tofazzal Hossain
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Correspondence to Nurunnaher Akter.

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Akter, N., Rafiqul Islam, M., Abdul Karim, M. et al. Alleviation of drought stress in maize by exogenous application of gibberellic acid and cytokinin. J. Crop Sci. Biotechnol. 17, 41–48 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12892-013-0117-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12892-013-0117-3

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