Foliar applied calcium chloride alleviated drought stress in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) by improving growth and yield contributing traits and antioxidant activity.

Drought-induced stress presents a substantial threat as it disrupts the normal growth of cereal crops and leads to decreased yields. The persistent occurrence of drought conditions significantly impacts the growth and development of pearl millet. This study aimed to explore how calcium chloride (CaC...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tauqeer Ahmad Yasir, Wasif Azhar, Qaisar Ali, Muhammad Usman Masood Bhutta, Muhammad Ateeq, Allah Wasaya, Mubshar Hussain, Rehana Riaz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2024-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310207
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841555442831982592
author Tauqeer Ahmad Yasir
Wasif Azhar
Qaisar Ali
Muhammad Usman Masood Bhutta
Muhammad Ateeq
Allah Wasaya
Mubshar Hussain
Rehana Riaz
author_facet Tauqeer Ahmad Yasir
Wasif Azhar
Qaisar Ali
Muhammad Usman Masood Bhutta
Muhammad Ateeq
Allah Wasaya
Mubshar Hussain
Rehana Riaz
author_sort Tauqeer Ahmad Yasir
collection DOAJ
description Drought-induced stress presents a substantial threat as it disrupts the normal growth of cereal crops and leads to decreased yields. The persistent occurrence of drought conditions significantly impacts the growth and development of pearl millet. This study aimed to explore how calcium chloride (CaCl2) regulates the growth of pearl millet when it faces a lack of water. Over two years, field experiments were conducted at the College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bahadur Sub-Campus Layyah. During the study, we exposed pearl millet to various foliar applications of CaCl2 (0 mg/L, 25 mg/L, 50 mg/L, and 75 mg/L) while subjecting it to two different irrigation conditions: full irrigation and drought stress during the booting stage. Results revealed that a significant reduction in the growth (plant height; PH, stem diameter; SD, fresh leaf weight; FLW, stem fresh weight; SFW, stem dry weight; SDW, root fresh weight; RFW, root dry weight; RDW, and plant dry weight; PDW), yield (panicle length; PL, grain per panicle; GPP, grain weight; GW, thousand grain weight; TGW, grain yield; GY, biological yield; BY, and harvest index; HI), and physiological attributes (membrane stability index; MSI, and soil plant analysis development; SPAD) were found under water drought stress condition, while increment in antioxidant level was observed due to low moisture contents in soil. In both years, foliar applied CaCl2 enhanced all the physiological, growth and yield traits as well as some of the antioxidants like superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). Study concluded that a concentration of 50 mg/L of CaCl2 is optimal for enhancing all examined attributes of pearl millet under both drought and full irrigation conditions. The results strongly advocate for the use of CaCl2 as the most effective treatment for the cultivation of pearl millet in arid and semi-arid regions.
format Article
id doaj-art-2e19e73cd5aa4e088bf47f2fe73bacf9
institution Kabale University
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2024-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-2e19e73cd5aa4e088bf47f2fe73bacf92025-01-08T05:32:37ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-011912e031020710.1371/journal.pone.0310207Foliar applied calcium chloride alleviated drought stress in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) by improving growth and yield contributing traits and antioxidant activity.Tauqeer Ahmad YasirWasif AzharQaisar AliMuhammad Usman Masood BhuttaMuhammad AteeqAllah WasayaMubshar HussainRehana RiazDrought-induced stress presents a substantial threat as it disrupts the normal growth of cereal crops and leads to decreased yields. The persistent occurrence of drought conditions significantly impacts the growth and development of pearl millet. This study aimed to explore how calcium chloride (CaCl2) regulates the growth of pearl millet when it faces a lack of water. Over two years, field experiments were conducted at the College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bahadur Sub-Campus Layyah. During the study, we exposed pearl millet to various foliar applications of CaCl2 (0 mg/L, 25 mg/L, 50 mg/L, and 75 mg/L) while subjecting it to two different irrigation conditions: full irrigation and drought stress during the booting stage. Results revealed that a significant reduction in the growth (plant height; PH, stem diameter; SD, fresh leaf weight; FLW, stem fresh weight; SFW, stem dry weight; SDW, root fresh weight; RFW, root dry weight; RDW, and plant dry weight; PDW), yield (panicle length; PL, grain per panicle; GPP, grain weight; GW, thousand grain weight; TGW, grain yield; GY, biological yield; BY, and harvest index; HI), and physiological attributes (membrane stability index; MSI, and soil plant analysis development; SPAD) were found under water drought stress condition, while increment in antioxidant level was observed due to low moisture contents in soil. In both years, foliar applied CaCl2 enhanced all the physiological, growth and yield traits as well as some of the antioxidants like superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). Study concluded that a concentration of 50 mg/L of CaCl2 is optimal for enhancing all examined attributes of pearl millet under both drought and full irrigation conditions. The results strongly advocate for the use of CaCl2 as the most effective treatment for the cultivation of pearl millet in arid and semi-arid regions.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310207
spellingShingle Tauqeer Ahmad Yasir
Wasif Azhar
Qaisar Ali
Muhammad Usman Masood Bhutta
Muhammad Ateeq
Allah Wasaya
Mubshar Hussain
Rehana Riaz
Foliar applied calcium chloride alleviated drought stress in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) by improving growth and yield contributing traits and antioxidant activity.
PLoS ONE
title Foliar applied calcium chloride alleviated drought stress in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) by improving growth and yield contributing traits and antioxidant activity.
title_full Foliar applied calcium chloride alleviated drought stress in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) by improving growth and yield contributing traits and antioxidant activity.
title_fullStr Foliar applied calcium chloride alleviated drought stress in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) by improving growth and yield contributing traits and antioxidant activity.
title_full_unstemmed Foliar applied calcium chloride alleviated drought stress in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) by improving growth and yield contributing traits and antioxidant activity.
title_short Foliar applied calcium chloride alleviated drought stress in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) by improving growth and yield contributing traits and antioxidant activity.
title_sort foliar applied calcium chloride alleviated drought stress in pearl millet pennisetum glaucum l by improving growth and yield contributing traits and antioxidant activity
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310207
work_keys_str_mv AT tauqeerahmadyasir foliarappliedcalciumchloridealleviateddroughtstressinpearlmilletpennisetumglaucumlbyimprovinggrowthandyieldcontributingtraitsandantioxidantactivity
AT wasifazhar foliarappliedcalciumchloridealleviateddroughtstressinpearlmilletpennisetumglaucumlbyimprovinggrowthandyieldcontributingtraitsandantioxidantactivity
AT qaisarali foliarappliedcalciumchloridealleviateddroughtstressinpearlmilletpennisetumglaucumlbyimprovinggrowthandyieldcontributingtraitsandantioxidantactivity
AT muhammadusmanmasoodbhutta foliarappliedcalciumchloridealleviateddroughtstressinpearlmilletpennisetumglaucumlbyimprovinggrowthandyieldcontributingtraitsandantioxidantactivity
AT muhammadateeq foliarappliedcalciumchloridealleviateddroughtstressinpearlmilletpennisetumglaucumlbyimprovinggrowthandyieldcontributingtraitsandantioxidantactivity
AT allahwasaya foliarappliedcalciumchloridealleviateddroughtstressinpearlmilletpennisetumglaucumlbyimprovinggrowthandyieldcontributingtraitsandantioxidantactivity
AT mubsharhussain foliarappliedcalciumchloridealleviateddroughtstressinpearlmilletpennisetumglaucumlbyimprovinggrowthandyieldcontributingtraitsandantioxidantactivity
AT rehanariaz foliarappliedcalciumchloridealleviateddroughtstressinpearlmilletpennisetumglaucumlbyimprovinggrowthandyieldcontributingtraitsandantioxidantactivity