Reducing the effects of drought stress in fodder corn by using salicylic acid and abscisic acid

Abstract

This experiment was carry out in order to evaluate the effect of salicylic acid and abscisic acid on the agricultural and biochemical characteristics of fodder corn under different moisture regimes. Water stress decreased plant height, number of rows per cob, thousand seeds weight and corn yield. However, the amount of total protein, soluble carbohydrate, proline and malondialdehyde increased significantly under moisture stress conditions. Foliar spraying of abscisic acid and salicylic acid had a significant positive effect on the plant height, the number of rows in the corn, the weight of thousand seeds and the free proline of leaves. Also, spraying salicylic acid led to a significant increase in cornlength. Spraying of salicylic acid and abscisic acid led to a significant reduction of malondialdehyde. In this experiment, irrigation based on 75 and 50% of available water caused a significant decrease in agricultural traits and an increase in some biochemical traits related to stress in fodder corn. The use of chemical compounds increased the plant's resistance to dehydration by significantly increasing the amount of soluble sugars and dehydrin proteins, so that the yield of corns increased and the amount of the stress biomarker, malondialdehyde, decreased significantly. According to the results of the present research, it is not recommended to plant drought-sensitive corn cultivars in dry areas due to very low yield, but it is possible to increase corn resistance to drought by applying a reduced level of recommended irrigation along with salicylic acid and abscisic acid foliar spraying. and as a result increased the production of corns.