Department of Plant Physiology, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar-500 030, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Online published on 19 March, 2018.
A field experiment was conducted at College Farm, College of Agriculture, ANGRAU, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad during rabi 2009–10 to study physiological and biochemical changes associated with biomass production in 12 sunflower genotypes under moisture stress. Moisture stress treatment was imposed at flower bud initiation stage (irrigation withheld from 40 to 60 DAS), whereas control plots were irrigated at 10 days intervals throughout the crop growth period. The data recorded on plant height, total leaf area, gas exchange parameters (photosynthetic rate, intracellular carbon dioxide concentration, transpiration rate and canopy temperature), total dry weight and seed yield per plant in selected inbred lines of sunflower. The results revealed that moisture stress at flower bud initiation stage reduced plant height, total leaf area, plant biomass photosynthetic rate and seed yield, whereas intracellular carbon dioxide concentration, transpiration rate and canopy temperature increased under moisture stress. Promising lines identified were SH-491 followed by DSF-111, RSF-107 and SH-177 for biomass, seed yield, lower intracellular CO2 concentration, ability to maintain transpiration rate even during stress and moderate photosynthetic performance.
Biomass, Drought, Gas exchange parameters, Genotypes, Sunflower, Yield
