Yield Optimization of Drought Stressed Wheat through Exogenous Application of Natural Plant Growth Regulators

The study was conducted at the Arid Zone Research Center (AZRC) Dera Ismail Khan during the 2018-19 crop years on the exogenous application of plant extracts on wheat seed. The trial was laid down in randomized complete block design with three replications. The seven treatments comprised of T-1 (Control), T-2 (Conocarpus lancifolius Engl.), T-3 (Acacia nilotica L.), T-4 (Moringa oleifera Lam.), T5 (Dalbergia sissoo Roxb.), T6 (Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh.), and T7 (Pongamia pinnata L.) plant extracts applied for seed priming of wheat seed variety AZRIC-Dera Ismail Khan. All the physiological agronomic parameters depicted significant variation among the treatment means. The treatment T-4 (Moringa oleifera Lam.) and T-5 (Delbergia sissoo Roxb.) produced 7% and 3.56% higher yield than control (T-1) while these treatments gave (15.1%) higher yield than T6 (Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh.). Hence T-4 (Moringa oleifera Lam.) and T-5 (Dalbergia sissoo Roxb.) may be used as seed priming substances to enhance germination and attain higher yield. Therefore planting of T-4 (Moringa oleifera Lam.) and T-5 (Dalbergia sissoo Roxb.) should be encouraged for having stimulatory effect on wheat grain yield while planting of T-2 (Conocarpus lancifolius Engl.) and T6 (Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh.) should be avoid near the wheat growing field due to inhibitory effect on wheat growth and grain yield.