Effect of water stress imposed at vegetative stage on growth and physiological traits of subterranean clover
1 Regional Research Development Office of Agriculture in Semi-arid North-west of Kef, Tunisia.
2 Research Laboratory of Agricultural Production Systems and Sustainable Development, University of Carthage, Tunisia.
3 National Institute of Field Crops, Tunisia.
4 University of Carthage, Field Crops Laboratory, Tunisia.
5 Higher School of Agriculture of Kef, Tunisia.
Research Article
GSC Advanced Research and Reviews, 2023, 14(02), 066–071.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gscarr.2023.14.2.0032
Publication history:
Received on 12 December 2022; revised on 24 January 2023; accepted on 26 January 2023
Abstract:
Pasture productivity in the Mediterranean region depends mainly on the soil water deficit. Subterranean clover originates from the Mediterranean region and is adapted to areas with hot and dry summers. The response of Subclover to drought was studied in greenhouse and subjected to three soils - water levels: 100% (control), 50 and 25% of field capacity (FC). After 70 days of water deficit treatment, our results showed that increasing levels of water constraint resulted in a progressive decline in the different growth parameters (shoot and root dry matter (DM) height, leaf area, shoot and root (DM)) and those of water content and leaf chlorophyll concentration. At the limited irrigation, Trifolium subterraneum L. showed smaller decreases in plant height and leaf area. Despite, limited irrigation increased the root to shoot ratio of DM. Thus, it shows better adaptation and a more balanced water balance. Findings of this study suggest that subterranean clover used avoidance mechanisms to withstand drought.
Keywords:
Water stress; Trifolium subterraneum; Growth; Water content; Leaf chlorophyll concentration
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Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0
