Improving okra productivity by mitigating drought through foliar application of salicylic acid

Abstract

Drought is major yield limiting factor in agriculture. Being perishable in nature vegetables are much more sensitive to drought stress compared to agronomic crops. Efficacy of two salicylic acid doses viz., 1mM and 2mM was evaluated on different growth stages of okra grown under 50% water stress. Study was conducted in Faisalabad during summer months of 2012-13. Data regarding morphological traits (plant height, root length, root shoot ratio and leaf area), physiological traits (cell membrane permeability, relative leaf water contents, photosynthetic rate and net assimilation rate) and yield related traits (total pods per plant, pod weight, fruit and seed yield per hectare) were recorded during both years. Results revealed that application of 1mM salicylic acid spray at 2+4 leaf stage as well as 2+4+flowering was equally effective in improving all morphological traits except root length. However, in other traits (physiological and yield) application of salicylic acid at all three growth stages (2+4+flowering stage) remained significantly superior than the application of salicylic acid at first two growth stages (2+4 leaf stage). Overall, application of 2mM spray at all growth stages of okra (2+4+flowering stage) was found to be most effective in improving all the traits under study consistently during both the years. From the results of this experiment we may conclude that foliar application of 2mM salicylic acid at 2 and 4 leaves, and flowering stage of okra can be effectively used for drought mitigation in okra.