Vol. 7, Issue 3 (2019)
Melatonin alters photosynthesis related traits in finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) under drought condition
Author(s): K Anitha, N Sritharan, R Ravikesavan, M Djanaguiraman and A Senthil
Abstract: Finger millet is an important grain crop provides food and nutritional security to the marginal farmers in the rainfed dry lands. The yield levels are far below its actual potential because it is predominantly grown under dry, semi-arid to sub-humid drought-prone agro ecosystems. Drought is an important environmental constraint that limits the productivity and affects both quality and quantity of yield. To mitigate the effect of drought on photosynthesis related traits of finger millet, an experiment was conducted with melatonin applied as seed treatment and foliar spray @ 40 and 60 µM. The finger millet was imposed with drought during vegetative and reproductive stages by withholding water for a period of 10 days or until moisture level reaches below 20% in pots. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized block design with three replications. From the results, it is observed that melatonin treatment has positive effect on photosynthesis related traits such as photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, chlorophyll content, soluble protein and chlorophyll fluorescence in finger millet under drought. Melatonin @ 60 μM given as seed treatment plus foliar spray or foliar spray alone during drought at vegetative and reproductive stages significantly increased the photosynthetic rate and related traits which would help in better biomass buildup and yield production in finger millet under drought.
Pages: 2750-2754 | 465 Views 120 Downloads
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How to cite this article:
K Anitha, N Sritharan, R Ravikesavan, M Djanaguiraman, A Senthil. Melatonin alters photosynthesis related traits in finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) under drought condition. Int J Chem Stud 2019;7(3):2750-2754.
