EFFECT OF NANO SELENIUM ON GROWTH AND DROUGHT TOLERANCE OF APPLE (Malus × domestica Borkh.)
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Date
2024-06-06
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UHF Nauni
Abstract
The present investigation entitled “Effect of nano selenium on growth and drought tolerance of apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.)” was carried out at the Experimental Farm, Department of Fruit Science, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh during 2022-2023. The experimental objectives were to study the effects of nano selenium on growth and physiology of apple rootstocks as well as on drought tolerance. Two rootstocks (MM 106 and M 9) were planted in pots under controlled environmental conditions. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications comprising of sixteen treatment combinations involving nano selenium concentrations (0, 10, 20 and 30 ppm nSe) and field capacity levels (100, 80, 60 and 40 % FC). The result revealed that with the increase of drought stress level, the vegetative parameters of both the rootstocks such as fresh and dry weight of roots, fresh and dry weight of shoots, total root length, number of primary roots per plant diameter of primary roots, total biomass, per cent survival, number of leaves per plant and leaf area were decreased significantly while application of different doses of nano selenium (10, 20 and 30 ppm), significantly improved vegetative parameters with maximum values at 30 ppm concentration as compared to without (0 ppm) foliar application of nano selenium in both rootstocks. Leaf nutrients were also improved maximum with 30 ppm foliar application in different moisture regimes conditions as compared to 100 per cent field capacity without foliar applications. The physiological and biochemical parameters i.e. relative water content, membrane stability index, total chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and total antioxidant activity were decreased significantly except proline which increased significantly with the increase of drought stress level and when different doses of nano selenium (10, 20 and 30 ppm) was applied, physiological and biochemical parameters were improved significantly as compared to 100 per cent field capacity without foliar applications. The soil physico-biochemical parameters were affected non-significantly by different moisture regimes as well as by different doses of nano selenium applications.