Vol. 12, Issue 7 (2023)

Author(s):
Navyashree R, Mummigatti UV, Nethra P, Basavaraj B and Hanamaratti NG

Abstract:
Drought has an impact on some critical physiological and biochemical processes in plants. The most difficult problem in drought-prone areas is minimizing crop yield losses. Inducing osmotic stress invitro with polyethylene glycol (PEG) is an alternative technique. Polyethylene glycols with molecular masses of 6000, which is impermeable, non-toxic osmotic polymer compound that can be utilized to reduce water potential and induce drought stress in plant tissues. In the current study, 20 sorghum genotypes were tested with two different osmotic levels using PEG and the control. Water stress influences practically every step of plant development. The data were collected 14 days after the treatment. The germination percent, seedling length, and vigour index were significantly reduced with PEG compared to control. The genotypes also exhibited significant variation for osmotic stress. The genotypes Chitapur L, Phule anuradha, M-35-1, Tadur L and Basavan pada showed minimum reduction with osmotic stress and can be recommended for future research on sorghum's drought tolerance.