Reaction of Some Morphological Traits, Yield and Yield Components of Cowpea (Vigna sinensis L.) to Methanol Foliar Application under Drought Stress Conditions

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

10.22084/ppt.2025.30644.2152

Abstract

 
Drought stress is one of the major issues in reducing plant yield, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. This stress induces various physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses in crops as a survival mechanism, and it limits their production more than any other environmental factor. Also, drought stress can damage photosynthesis in crops and reduce growth, development, and grain yield. One of the important strategies for increasing the concentration of CO2 in plants is the use of alcoholic compounds such as methanol, which can increase the concentration of CO2 in the plant and help its photosynthesis and growth under drought stress conditions. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to evaluate the response of some morphological traits, yield, and yield components of cowpea to methanol foliar application under drought stress conditions.
 
Materials and Methods
The experiment was conducted as a split plot based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications in the summer of 2021 at Dezful region. Drought stress was applied based on irrigation intervals at four levels (80, 110, 140, and 170 mm of evaporation from a class A evaporation pan) as the main factor. Foliar spraying was performed at four levels (0, 10, 20, and 30% volumetric methanol solution) as the sub-factor. The evaluated traits included plant height, number of leaves, number of pod per plant, number of grain per pod, 100-grain weight, grain yield, biological yield and harvest index. Analysis of variance was performed using statistical analysis system (SAS ver. 9.3). The means were compared using the Duncan's multiple range test at 5% probability level.    
 
Results and Discussion
The results of this study showed that drought stress could reduce cowpea grain yield by reducing plant height, shedding leaves and flowers, and negatively affecting yield components. While, methanol foliar spray treatment had a positive and significant effect on all studied traits, and this effect reached its maximum in foliar spray with 30% volumetric methanol. Based on the comparison of the treatment means, the highest plant height (159.64 cm), number of leaves per plant (69.72), number of pods per plant (60), number of grains per pod (12.6), 100-grain weight (20.01 g), grain yield (2260 kg/ha), biological yield (4712 kg/ha), and harvest index (48 %) belonged to foliar application of 30% volumetric methanol under irrigation conditions after 80 mm evaporation, and the lowest values belonged to the treatment combination of no foliar application of methanol (control) under irrigation conditions after 170 mm evaporation. Therefore, it seems that methanol foliar spraying is effective due to several mechanisms, including improving plant photosynthesis, reducing oxidative stress, improving water and nutrient absorption, changing plant metabolism, increasing vegetative growth, improving flowering and pod formation, moderating the effect of drought stress, and ultimately, it increased the final yield of cowpeas.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Conclusion
Based on the results of this study, the use of methanol foliar spraying, especially its application 30% volumetric, can increase cowpea grain yield under drought stress conditions by improving some morphological traits such as plant height and number of leaves per plant, as well as yield components (number of pods per plant, number of grains per pod, grain weight).

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Volume 17, Issue 1
June 2025
Pages 107-120

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