Effect of Moisture Stress at Different Growth Stages and Role of Growth Regulators on Biochemical Parameters and Osmotic Adjustment in Chickpea Genotypes

Experiment was conducted in pot culture to study the effect of moisture stress [MS] at different growth stages and the possible role of growth regulators on mitigating the adverse effects of moisture stress in two chickpea genotypes. The osmolytes accumulation viz., proline content, free amino acid content, soluble protein content, osmotic potential and their impact on seed yield was studied. The results showed significantly increased accumulation of proline, free amino acids and soluble protein content in leaves under moisture stress condidition which was associated with lower osmotic potential. The higher accumulation of these osmolytes was observed due to moisture stres, which increased at later stages of moisture stress and was significantly higher in the treatment with MS+ ABA as compared to MS. The genotype C-214 showed significantly higher accumulation of these osmolytes and lower water potential as compared to the genotype BG-362 due to MS at all the growth stages. The seed yield plant(-1) decreased under moisture stress condition and more reduction in seed yield was observed in BG-362 as compared to C-214. The moisture stress at 40-60 DAS caused maximum reduction in seed yield plant(-1) in both the genotypes. However, the treatment MS+BA+ABA was the best treatment in mitigating the adverse effect of moisture stress. It can be concluded that chickpea genotypes posses osmoregulation as a mechanism for moisture stress tolerance at lower osmotic potential and growth regulator ABA alone and in combination with BA plays important role in moisture stress tolerance.