Seed quality, water use efficiency and eco physiological characteristics of Lallemantia (Lallemantia sp.) species as effected by soil moisture content

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of drought stress on the yield, water use efficiency (WUE), physiology, and seed quality of two species Lallemantia sp. Field experiments with three irrigation regimes were carried out in a split plot factorial in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments included irrigation after 40 %, 60 %, and 100 % depletion of available soil water (ASW) (I40, I60 and I100 respectively) as main plots and Lallemantia species L. iberica (M. Bieb.) Fisch. & C. A. Mey. (S1) and L. royleana Benth. in Wall (S2) as subplots. Increment in depletion of ASW (I40 to I100) resulted in progressively less chlorophyll a content (Chl a), open stomata percentage (OS), and leaf area index (LAI). The highest Chl a and LAI were found to be 0.0087 mg g−1, and 2.68 mg g−1 leaf mass in I40 treatment, respectively, while closed stomata percentage (CS) increased significantly as drought stress increased. The results of this experiment indicated that the appropriate yield of production was obtained in plots which were fully irrigated (I40) for all species of Lallemantia; however, the WUE increased as drought stress increased. The interaction of drought stress, Lallemantia species with grain yield and WUE was significant.