Abstract

ALLEVIATION OF WATER DEFICIT CONDITIONS ON THE CORN (ZEA MAIZE L.) BY USING GIBBERELLIC ACID AND PROLINE.

Mustafa R. Al-Shaheen*, Awang Soh, Muaiad Hadi Ismael and Rabah S. Shareef,

ABSTRACT

The current study focuses on the use of plant growth regulators, namely, gibberellic acid and Amino acids, namely proline with the goal of finding ways to cope with water scarcity and understanding the physiological adaptations of corn plants to drought using such growth regulators and Amino acids. A field study was conducted from March 2014 to June 2014 to investigate the influence of different concentrations of gibberellic acid (0, 50 and 300ppm) and proline (0, 100 and 300 ppm) to reduce effect of water stress on some physiological characteristics of corn (Zea maize L.) under different irrigation levels (25%, 50% and 75%). Compared with that in the untreated plants,a considerable improvement was observed in the growth and yield of the corn plants sprayed with different concentrations of gibberellic acid and proline. Specifically, a clear increase was noted in t the number of days to flowering, plant height (cm) and leaf area index (LAI) of the corn plants sprayed with proline (300ppm) and gibberellic acid (300ppm) under water stress irrigations. Corn plants positively responded to the spraying of proline and gibberellic acid and showed high drought tolerance. The corn plants were more tolerant of drought when sprayed with 300 ppm proline and 300 ppm gibberellic acid. The use of gibberellic acid and proline is an innovative and promising way to reduce the impact of drought on plant growth and crop production.

Keywords: Water Stress, Proline, Gibberellic acid, Corn Growth, Irrigation Level.