O A

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Advances in Environmental Biology, 6(2): 518-525, 2012
ISSN 1995-0756
This is a refereed journal and all articles are professionally screened and reviewed
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Effect of Drought Stress and Zinc Sulfat on the yield and some physiological
characteristics of Sunflower (Helianthus. Annuus L.)
1
Zohreh Baniabbass Shahri, 2Gholam Reza Zamani, 3Mohammad Hassan Sayyari-Zahan
1
MSc Student, Agriculture Faculty, Islamic Azad Univarsity of Birjand, Birjand, Iran.
Assistant professor, Department of agronomy and plant breeding, Agriculture Faculty, University of Birjand,
97175-331, Birjand, Iran.
3
Assistant professor, Department of Soil Science, Agriculture Faculty, University of Birjand, 97175-331,
Birjand, Iran.
2
Zohreh Baniabbass Shahri, Gholam Reza Zamani, Mohammad Hassan Sayyari-Zahan: Effect of
Drought Stress and Zinc Sulfat on the yield and some physiological characteristics of Sunflower
(Helianthus. Annuus L.)
ABSTRACT
In many areas of Iran, the reproductive growth stage of sunflower is exposed to the drought stress.
Therefore, irrigation management of farms is necessary to increase irrigation efficiency and decreasing water
loss. Zinc (Zn), is one of the necessary nutrient for plant growth to involve in formation of indole acetic acid and
its foliar application is a known way and addition complementary to uptake by roots. This study was conducted
to investigate the effect of zinc sulfate on some physiological traits in sunflower (Hellianthus.annuus L.) under
drought stress. The experiment was split plot based on randomized complete block design with three
replications. Four irrigation treatments, i.e. I1= without stress (control), I2= interrupt irrigation during the
vegetative growth stage, I3= interrupt irrigation during the flowering stage, I4= interrupt irrigation during the
vegetative and flowering stages were arranged as main plots and three foliar application treatments of zinc
sulfate, i.e. Zn0= without foliar application, Zn1= 0.5%, Zn2= 1% concentration of zinc sulfate were arranged as
sub plots. The results indicated that drought stress decreased significantly all the measured traits. Seed yield had
a significant decrease. The treatment of full irrigation (Control) resulted in higher yields than other irrigation
treatments. The highest seed yield was related to foliar application with 1% concentration of zinc sulfate and the
lowest one was related to no irrigation during vegetative stage and flowering stage with no foliar application of
Zn. Regarding the limitation of water resources, application of Zn could be used as a good strategy for yield
sustainability of sunflower under drought stress.
Key word: sunflower, drought stress, Zinc foliar application, relative water content (RWC), yield
Introduction
Generally, drought is one of the limiting crop
production factors in dry areas. The results of many
researches confirm the role of water deficit on
damaging of plant growth. For this reason, the plants
chosen for low-water conditions must be resistant to
water stress. Sunflower (Helianthus.annuus L.) is one
the most important oil seeds with high content of
unsaturated fatty acids, lack of cholesterol and its oil
has a desirable quality [27]. Sunflower able to uptake
water from deeper layers of soil when water stress
happen during the early vegetative phase which
causes the stimulation of a deeper root system and a
tolerance of short period of water deficit that are
useful traits of sunflower for producing acceptable
yields in dry land farming. On the other hand, some
evidences indicated that stress during the vegetative
phase; flowering or seed filling period causes
considerable decrease in yield and oil content of
sunflower [27]. Water requirement of sunflower as a
drought-resistant plant varied depending upon the
region which is reported about 200-900 mm. Data
showed the water consumption of sunflower plant is
about 560 mm [29]. The amount of water used by
plant during vegetative stage is less than complete
growth. Consumed water increases from flowering
stage due to high temperature, plant extension and
the completion of plant cover, but the production of
dry matter is higher. In the case of decrease available
water content, the plant can be compatible itself to
some extent with environmental condition [13].
However drought stress is one of the limiting factors
for sunflower. Various researches revealed the
influences of drought stress on different traits of
sunflower. Vivek and chakor [35] found that drought
Corresponding Author
Mohammad Hassan Sayyari-Zahan, Assistant professor, Department of Soil Science, Agriculture
Faculty, University of Birjand, 97175-331, Birjand, Iran.
E-mail: [email protected]; Fax: 0098561-2254050 Tel: 0098561-2254041-8
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Adv. Environ. Biol., 6(2): 518-525, 2012
stress reduced plant height, leaf area index and
number of green leaves in sunflower.
Razi and Asad [27] in an experiment on 14
cultivars of sunflower showed that irrigation led to
an increase in head size, stem diameter, number of
leaves per plant, plant height, 1000- seed weight,
seed yield and harvest index. Ragers et al [29]
reported that the most sensitive stage of sunflower to
water stress is flowering stage. On basis of the
studies of Murriel (1975) and Flagela et al [9], the
flowering stage and grain filling in sunflower showed
the highest sensitivity to drought stress in which the
number of grains, the grain weight and oil quality are
considerably affected by drought. The results of
Mekki et al [21] showed that in the grain-filling
stage; seed yield, seed number on the head, grain
weight and head diameter of sunflower decrease
during drought stress.
Yegapan et al [38] found that water stress in
sunflower leads to decrease in plant height, head
diameter, 1000 grain weight and grain yield.
Deshmukh et al [6] declared that under irrigation
conditions, all the yield components had a positive
coherency with performance, while in drought stress
conditions; they showed a negative coherency with
grain performance. Thalooth et al [33] reported that
irrigation at the flowering stage increases the seed
yield 60% more in comparison to the control. In the
study of two year on sunflower, Cox and Jollief [5]
found that under drought conditions grain yield
decreases 51% in comparison with complete
irrigation. They concluded that under suitable and
water stress conditions, the most direct positive
effect on grain yield is related to performance
components such as the grain weight and the number
of grains on the head. Ferers et al [7] indicated that
the effect of deficit water on the yield via decreasing
the number of grain on the head, decreasing
photosynthesis and increasing the percentage of
grains hollowness.
Water deficit affect on the fertilizers efficiency.
Among fertilizers, zinc sulphate has an important
role in regulating the holes and ionic balance in plant
system in order to decrease the water stress such that
any secondary factor which leads to inaccessibility of
this element for the plant, indicates the yield and
concentration of this element in various tissues such
as grain [16].
Sunflower is a plant which highly needs
nutritional elements often to react positively to the
application of chemical fertilizers. In average, the
plants can uptake 28 g zinc from soil per 1 ton of
production [19]. Therefore in the conditions of water
deficit, the using of fertilizers should be balanced and
the consumption of special fertilizers such as zinc
sulphate has to be specially considered. Application
of higher amounts of zin leads to increase the palnt
resistance to stress conditions.
The positive effect of consuming micronutritional fertilizers like zinc sulphate on yield,
whether in soil or spraying on leaves has been
reported by many scientists [17,16]. Foliar
application of zinc sulphate resulted to higher yield
because of various reasons such as increase of oxine
biosynthesis, chlorophile concentration, decrease of
sodium concentration in plant tissues and increase of
nitrogen and phosphorous uptake in the presence of
zinc [19].
Khurana et al [16] believed that the availability
of zinc in soil solution declined with decreasing the
soil moisture content due to the limitation of root
growth.
Therefore obtaining a suitable concentration of
zinc sulphate which would be able to provide plant
need besides decreasing the effects of drought stress
seems necessary due to the positive effects of the
application of zinc sulphate fertilizer on
qualitative/quantitative increase in agricultural
products and also the vast lack of zinc in agricultural
lands, since consuming zinc sulphate not only
improves the performance of agricultural products,
but also increases the quality of the final products
followed by the richness and improvement of the
health of the society [19].
This research seems considerable for the
investigation of the effects of drought-stress on
biological features, performance and constituents of
seed performance during various stages of seed
growth in the presence of zinc.
Methods and Materials
Site description:
This study was conducted at the agricultural
research center of Birjand in 2010, which is located
in the eastern part of Iran (lat: 51:38N, long: 35:20E,
and 1470M above sea level). This region has an arid
climate, with four distinct climatic seasons. The
mean annual rainfall is 171mm, with most of it
occurring during autumn and winter. The minimum
daily average air temperature during the growing
season was 21.5°C, while the maximum daily
average air temperature was 39.6°C. Soil sample was
taken from depth 0-40 cm and analyzed for some
physico-chemical characteristics. The soil texture
was a sandy clay loam (typic torriorthents; 26.7%
silt, 20.2% clay, and 53.1% sand). Electrical
conductivity of saturated paste extract (ECe) was
5.76 dS m-1, organic carbon content (O.C): 0.13%
and soil pH of 8.4.
Experimental details:
Treatments of drought stress consisted four
levels, i.e. I1= without stress (control), I2= interrupt
irrigation during vegetative growth stage, I3=
interrupt irrigation during flowering stage, I4=
interrupt irrigation during vegetative stage and
flowering stage. Sub plot unit consisted of three
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foliar applications of zinc sulfate, i.e. Zn0= without
foliar application, Zn1= 0.5% and Zn2= 1%
concentration of zinc sulfate. Foliar application was
done two times (two weeks before and two weeks
after flowering). The trial was laid out in a split plot
design based on randomized complete block
replicated three times with plot size of 16 m2. Each
plot consisted of 4 rows, 7 m long with 60 cm space
between rows and 20 cm distance between plants on
the rows. Seeds were planted on May 2010. The type
of seeds that used in this study was Hybrid Iroflour.
This hybrid comes from the variety of single-cross,
the groups of middle ripping and has registered in
1988 in France. The plants were thinned to 83000
plants ha-1. Fertilizer requirement for supplemental of
phosphorus (p), potassium (k) and nitrogen (N)
fertilizers were based on soil test samples that were
taken prior to planting and on local fertilizer
recommendations. One third of nitrogen (75kg ha-1)
as urea, 150 kg ha-1 of phosphate as triple super
phosphate and 100 kg ha-1 of potassium as potassium
sulfate at planting were applied on the basis of soil
analysis and the remaining nitrogen fertilizer (150 kg
N ha-1) used at two different periods during plant
growth stages. The field was kept weed-free by
weeding. When down side of head turned to
brownish yellow, the final harvest was performed. In
order to remove the edge effect, the sampling was
not conducted from lateral rows.
Measurements:
Plant height was recorded at maturity and stem
diameter and number of achenes per head were
recorded as well from 7 plants which selected
randomly and then averaged.
To calculate the average 1000-seed weight, five
samples were randomly taken from the each plot and
for the number of seed per plot 5 head were counted
as well
To examine the plant reaction to water deficit
stress, Relative water content (RWC) was calculated.
For the other purpose, leaves of three plants from
second and third rows were separated before
irrigation and moved to the laboratory to measure
fresh weight and prepared disk of leaves. In the
laboratory disk of the leaves were prepared and
weighed immediately to measure the fresh weight.
Then disks were rinsed in distilled water about 24
hours at 4˚ until were saturated completely. After
this, the leaf disks were dried by towels of dry paper
and were then weighed again. The samples were
placed in the oven for about 48 hours at 72˚ and
then recorded dry weight. Relative water content was
calculated by this equation.
RWC = Relative water content
Fw = fresh leaf weight
Dw = Dry leaf weight
Sw = Saturated leaf weight
seed yield data have been taken from Hussain et
al (2008). To calculate biological yield, weight of air
dried plants (except achenes) was recorded on plot
basis and then converted in to kg ha-1. The recorded
weight was then added to the already calculated
achene yield (kg ha-1) to obtain the biological yield.
Harvest index was calculated by this equation:
HI = Harvest index
Ye = Economical yield
Yb = Biological yield
Analysis of variance was based on the general
linear model procedures of the Statistical Analysis
System (SAS). The least significant difference (LSD)
at 0.05 level of probability was used to detect means
differences between treatment means.
Results and Discussion
Plant height:
Plant height was significantly affected by water
stress (Table 1).
Increasing drought stress resulted in decrease in
plant height, so the highest plant height was obtained
in the control (132.4), in which crop water
requirement was applied during the total growth
period and the lowest plant height was obtained in
the I4 treatment (119.33), where no irrigation water in
vegetative stage and flowering stage (Table 2). Riahi
Nia [28] in his experiment on sunflower, cotton, bean
and maize also come to similar results. Likely,
drought stress led to reduction in water potential of
stem cell to a lower level needed for cell elongation
and consequently, shorter inter nodes and stem
height. The decrease of shoot length as response of
cell elongation resulting from water shortage, which
led to a decrease of each cell turger cell volume and
eventually, cell growth [2] or due to blocking up of
xylem and phloem vessels, thus hindering any
transferring through [18]. Also data showed that
different amount of foliar application of zinc sulphat
(Zn) had a significant effect on this parameter (Table
1). Plant height decreased by decreasing of Zn
concentration. But the interactive effect of the two
above-mentioned factors was not significant (Table
1).
Stem are an important role in transport of
carbohydrate in seed filling period. Our results
showed that the effect of irrigation regime was
significant for stem diameter, but the foliar
application of Zn and their interaction was not
significant (Table 1).
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The highest (131.9) and the lowest (120.2) values are
related to I1 and I4 treatment respectively (Table 2)
which are in agreement with the results of Moriondo
et al [23].
Table 1: Mean square of the effect of drought stress and foliar application of Zn on the traits of sunflower.
Source of
variation
df
Replication
2
drought
3
Error a
6
Zinc sulfat
3
D * Zn
Error b
CV%
Height
stem(c
m)
2.006
274.87
**
48.86
258.99
0.05
1000
seed
weight
(gr)
20.08
0.21 **
100.52 **
Stem
diamete
r (cm)
Number of
seed per
head
28282.11
256667.29 *
RWC
33.88
48.55
**
13.13
59.65
Seed yield
(kg/ha)
Biological
yield (kg/ha)
Harvest
Index
152624.27
1611921.54
0.0001
768703.46 **
5682051.92 *
0.003 **
192515.88
9630135.43
4444555.86
0.02
7.71
15888.40
**
0.05 n.s
110.97 *
182567.36 *
6
59.90 n.s
0.02 n.s
19.57 **
73060.10 **
10.47
n.s
184482.69 **
1072267.28
n.s
0.003 **
16
-
54.29
5.84
0.05
15.71
6.48
5.18
24106.45
13.38
11.02
6.93
58832.04
9.35
965896.3
10.48
0.0009
11.20
**
1391114.89 n.s
**
0.004
0.005 **
(* significant at 5% and ** significant at 1%)
Table 2: Means comparison on the traits of sunflower under drought stress and foliar application of Zn.
Treatments
Height
(cm)
stem
Stem
diameter
(cm)
1000
seed
weight (gr)
Number of
seed
per
head
RWC
Seed yield
(kg/hec)
Biological
yield
(kg/hec)
Harvest
Index
drought
I1
132.46 a
1.66 a
53.24 a
1385.22 a
50.17 a
2953.8 a
10049 a
0.29 a
I2
127.80 ab
1.52 ab
50.48 b
1160.67 b
49.66 a
2702.9 b
9373.4 a
0.28 a
bc
ab
c
bc
b
c
a
I3
124.53
1.44
46.83
1116.78
46.12
2362.9
9813.7
0.25 b
I4
119.33 c
1.29 b
46.04 c
978.44 c
45.71 b
2346 c
8258.2 b
0.28 a
Zinc sulfate
Zn0
121.73 b
1.50 a
46.33 c
1037.92 b
45.34 b
2240.57 c
9045.5 b
0.25 b
Zn2
125.39 ab
1.40 a
48.74 b
1158.33 ab
49.14 a
2613.18 b
8999.4 b
0.29 a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
Zn3
130.96
1.53
52.37
1284.58
49.26
2920.48
10075.8
0.29 a
(** Letters of the comparison of averages are only comparable inside their treatment, i.e. comparisons of average drought-stress and zinc
sulphate solution spray must be considered separately). I1= without stress (control), I2= interrupt irrigation during vegetative growth stage,
I3= interrupt irrigation during flowering stage, I4= interrupt irrigation during and flowering stage vegetative stage; Zn0= without foliar
application, Zn1= 0.5%, Zn2= 1% concentration of zinc sulfate.)
Molze and Klepper [22] reported that in field
conditions, one of the effects of low water
availability is the reduction of stem diameter due to
lower radius growth of stem. In this condition, the
main stem and lateral branch growth are suppressed
and thus a lower stem dry matter will be obtained.
Comparison data showed that the largest diameter
was obtained from spraying of 1% Zn concentration
(Table 2).
1000- Seed weight:
Result of combined ANOVA showed that
drought stress caused significant decrease in grain
weight (Table 1), so that the maximum and minimum
1000-grain weight was obtained in I1 (52.8) and I4
(46.7) respectively (Table 2). Our results were
according to those of obtained by [21,12]. Drought
stress had negative effect on current photosynthesis
and remobilization, decreasing the mobilization of
photosynthetic materials to the developing seeds as
well. In addition, a reduction of 1000-seed weight
may accrue due to the lower photosynthetic
production, because of excessive loss of leaves at the
flowering stage. High 1000-seed weight obtained
from I1 (control) irrigation treatment which was
probably due to the availability of adequate soil
moisture and assimilates from source to sink during
seed formation and seed filling stages. Also foliar
application of Zn tended to increase 1000-seed
weight of sunflower compared to the control (Zn0).
The highest amount of 1000-seed weight was
obtained from 1% Zn concentration (52.4 gr) (Table
2). In addition, the results of average comparisons
showed that the mutual effect of drought-stress and
foliar application of zinc sulphate was significant
(Table 1). Spraying of Zn increased 1000-seed
weight in all drought levels (Table 3).
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Table 3: Effects interaction of drought stress and foliar application of ZN on Seed yield, yield components and Harvest Index of Sunflower.
Treatments
drought
I1
I2
I3
Zinc sulfat
Zn0
Zn1
Zn2
1000
seed
weight (gr)
ab
52.72
51.60 abc
55.39 a
Number
seed per head
1182 b
1214.33 b
1759.33 a
of
Seed
yield
(kg/hec)
bc
2844.09
2721.25 bc
3296.11 a
Harves index
0.30 ab
0.27 b
0.30 ab
Zn0
Zn1
Zn2
46.64 def
51.85 abc
52.95 ab
1121.66 bc
1213.33 b
1147 bc
2501.93 c
2605.81 bc
3001.09 ab
0.30 ab
0.28 ab
0.28 ab
Zn0
Zn1
Zn2
46.16 ef
44.41 f
49.92 bcde
984.33 bc
1135.66 bc
1230.33 b
1850.94 d
2645.32 bc
2541.79 bc
0.20 d
0.28 ab
0.26 bc
Zn0
39.80 g
863.66 c
1765.31 d
0.21 cd
Zn1
47.12 cdef
1070 bc
2480.33 bc
0.33 a
Zn2
51.21 abcd
1001.66 bc
2842.94 bc
0.31 ab
(I1= without stress (control), I2= interrupt irrigation during vegetative growth stage, I3= interrupt irrigation during flowering stage, I4=
interrupt irrigation during and flowering stage vegetative stage; Zn0= without foliar application, Zn1= 0.5%, Zn2= 1% concentration of zinc
sulfate).
I4
Seed number per head:
The seed number is an important and efficient
component in yield. In this study seed number per
head was significantly affected by drought stress and
zinc sulfat treatment (table 1). Increasing drought
stress and decreasing zinc sulfat levels resulted in
decrease seed number per head. So that maximum
and minimum seed number per head were 1759 and
863 in I1 and I4 irrigation treatment and Zn3 and Zn1
treatment respectively (Table 3). The effect of
drought-stress on the number of seeds in sunflower
tray is in agreement with the finding of Goksoy et al
[12] who reported a decrease of seed number per
head. Ghaffari and Pashapour [11] declared that in
stress conditions, the number of seeds in a tray is a
fixing factor for different figures.
The investigation of means comparisons showed
that the interaction effect of drought-stress and
application of zinc sulphate on this trait was
significant (Table 1). Results showed that in all
levels of zinc sulphate application, the number of
seeds in the tray decreased with increase in drought
(Table 3).
Leaf Relative Water Content:
The results of combined ANOVA showed that
leaf relative water content (RWC) strongly effected
by water deficit stress and with intensifying stress
decreased significantly (Table 1). Our results were
concordant with those of obtained by Jiang and
Huang [15] and Unyayar et al. [34]. Decreasing leaf
relative water content is an indication of decrease of
swelling pressure in plant cells and causes to
decrease the growth. Depletion of soil water caused
lower water potential in the root region, so the plant
should be decreased transpiration rate for remaining
consistent water potential of inside [32]. Difference
among leaf relative water contents was significant at
foliar application of Zn levels (Table 1) so that the
plants which received a higher amount of Zn, had
more leaf relative moisture (table2).
Seed yield:
Results of combined ANOVA showed that the
effect of drought stress, Zn application and their
interaction was significant on seed yield (Table 1).
With increasing severe drought stress, seed yield
decreased. Increasing zinc concentration caused the
increase of seed yield. The highest (2953.8) and the
lowest (2346) amount of yield were related to I1 and
I3 treatment, respectively (Table 2). According to the
results, drought stress decreased by 20 percent in
seed yield. It seems to be enough water during
flowering and seed filling stages to improve the yield
of sunflower, because in the process of two important
components of yield (seed number and seed weight)
is composed [12].
Different amounts of Zn spraying and irrigation
regimes were influenced on seed yield.
Interaction between drought stress and Zn
concentration showed that with increasing drought
stress, decreased seed yield. The highest and lowest
yield was obtained by foliar application with
consistency 1% and without foliar application
respectively (Fig 1).
Biological yield:
Water deficit and foliar application of zinc sulfat
had significant effect on biological yield which is
represented by dry material assemblage in aerial
body at harvest time. But their interaction effect was
not significant (Table 1).
Our results confirmed by the finding of Flenet et
al. [10], Connor et al. [4], Jasso et al. [14] who also
showed decreasing biological yield because of
drought stress. The reason for increasing in total dry
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matter (TDM) production in plants under optimum
irrigation was the extension of leaf area and its
higher durability that provided enough physiological
resource to take advantage of received light and
therefore produce more dry matter [14].
3500
Seed yield
3000
2500
2000
Zn0
1500
Zn1
1000
Zn2
500
0
I1
I2
I3
I4
Drought stress
Fig. 1: Interaction between drought stress and Zn concentration on seed yield
(I1= without stress (control), I2= interrupt irrigation during vegetative growth stage, I3= interrupt irrigation
during flowering stage, I4= interrupt irrigation during and flowering stage vegetative stage; Zn0= without foliar
application, Zn1= 0.5%, Zn2= 1% concentration of zinc sulfate).
Also Zn foliar application tended to increase
biological yield of sunflower compared to the control
(without Zn). Maximum biological yield was
obtained by spraying 1% Zn concentration (table 2).
The interaction between drought stress and zinc
sulfate was not significant on biological yield. Mean
comparisons indicated that spraying of 1% Zn
concentration in the optimal irrigation conditions
compared with other treatments will produce greater
dry matter (Table 3).
Harvest index:
Drought stress affected harvest index
considerably and caused to decrease the harvest
index. The highest harvest index rate (0.29) belonged
to the full irrigation (Table 1). Our results showed
that drought stress decreased grain yield with a
higher degree than dry matter yield as a result of
which harvest index decreased. Harvest index
implies the relative distribution of photosynthesis
products between economical sinks and other
existing sinks in the plant. Setter [31] stated that
water deficit is one of the limiting factors of plant
growth and development that not only reduces
production of dry matter but also causes a disorder to
the partitioning of carbohydrates to grain thus
reducing the harvest index. Results of this study is in
agreement with findings of Cox and Julliff [5] who
reported that with reducing water consumption dry
matter production decreased but the reduction of
grain yield in response to water deficit was more than
the reduction of biological yield. Pandey et al. [24]
suggested that the reason of harvest index reduction
at severe drought stress is the higher sensitivity of
reproductive growth to undesirable conditions in
comparison with generative growth.
The difference between maximum and minimum
of harvest index was statistically significant at
different zinc sulfate levels (Table 1). The highest
(0.29) and the lowest (0.25) values are related to Zn2
and Zn1 treatment respectively (Table 2).
Also our results showed that the interaction
between irrigation regime and application of zinc
sulfat were significant for Harvest index (Table 1).
According to these results, harvest index showed a
different response to drought stress treatment in
contrast zinc sulfat. On the other hand, the highest
harvest index was in T4 (with holding irrigation
during vegetative and flowering stage) and Zn2
(foliar application with consistency 0.5%). Also the
lowest harvest index was in T4 (with holding
irrigation during vegetative and flowering stage) and
Zn0 (without foliar application) (Fig. 2).
It seems that the zinc sulfate can be reduced the
harmful effects of stress in the treatment of I4 (with
holding irrigation during vegetative and flowering
stage).
Conclusion:
According to our results, the response of the
plant yield to the stress is different. Low irrigation
has the highest influence on sunflower yield in the
pregnancy stage. Results showed that lowering
irrigation course in two growth stages decreased the
performance as low as 8%, while lowering irrigation
during pregnancy stage decreased production as
much as 20%. Therefore when the plant encounters
with loss of water, the time of drought is a suitable
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tool for optimum planning in using water. In
addition, results showed that the application of zinc
sulphate has reverse effects due to stress. In general,
the results of this research showed that the
consumption of zinc element in the form of solution
spray is one of the important techniques of
agriculture in arid and semi-arid lands to decrease the
effects of stress. Therefore it seems necessary to
consider soil fertility management and fertilizer
recommendation in these regions especially to this
important nutritional element.
0.35
Harvest index
0.3
0.25
0.2
Zn0
0.15
Zn1
0.1
Zn2
0.05
0
I1
I2
I3
I4
Drought stress
Fig. 2: Interaction of drought stress and zinc sulfat on harvest index
(I1= without stress (control), I2= interrupt irrigation during vegetative growth stage, I3= interrupt irrigation
during flowering stage, I4= interrupt irrigation during and flowering stage vegetative stage; Zn0= without foliar
application, Zn1= 0.5%, Zn2= 1% concentration of zinc sulfate).
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