104(3)_str34

ISSN 1392-3196 / e-ISSN 2335-8947
Zemdirbyste-Agriculture, vol. 104, No. 3 (2017), p. 267–276
DOI  10.13080/z-a.2017.104.034

Growth and developmental responses of crop plants under drought stress: a review

Shakeel Ahmad ANJUM, Umair ASHRAF, Ali ZOHAIB, Mohsin TANVEER, Muhammad NAEEM, Iftikhar ALI, Tahira TABASSUM, Usman NAZIR

Abstract

Water deficit conditions are a bearing on plant growth and development leading to diminished crop productivity. However, improving the crop productivity is need of the time to sustain the food security under ever increasing world population. Drought episodes are increasing with varying intensity and duration. Drought stress imposes alterations in crucial plant growth and developmental processes, including germination, plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf size and area, dry matter production and partitioning, flower and fruit production, and maturity. Nonetheless, plants show some morphological changes to cope with drought stress by lowering water loss, enhanced water uptake and maintenance of tissue water status. Some plants complete their life cycle early before the onset of drought to escape water deficit conditions. Identification of effects of drought stress on morphological attributes and morphological changes in response to drought can be promising for selection and breeding of drought resistant genotypes.

Key words: drought, growth and development, morphology, phenology, plant responses.

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