Effect of zeolite in reducing drought stress on Sanguisorba minor plant

IntroductionDrought stress is always one of the main agricultural problems in Iran and the world and is considered an important factor in reducing plant yield, which is defined as a deviation from optimal conditions in plants. Zeolites are porous water-holding aluminosilicate minerals that contain many beneficial elements and have high ion exchange capacity. So that their use in plant growth media with the aim of improving soil structure by increasing water retention capacity in the soil can moderate the harmful effects of drought stress on plants. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of different amounts of zeolite on the performance of Sanguisorba minor rangeland plants at different levels of drought stress. Assuming that using zeolite superabsorbent can reduce the negative effects of drought stress on plants and provide the best amount of zeolite use in optimal growth conditions combined with stress.Materials and methodsFor this purpose, an experiment was conducted in the greenhouse of the Faculty of Natural Resources of Sari in a completely randomized design with 3 replications. The first factor included zeolite at three levels of 0, 2 and 4% by weight per kilogram of soil and the second factor was the irrigation regime at three levels (20 (as control), 40 and 60% field drainage) applied to Sanguisorba minor seedlings. To create each level of drought stress, the method of daily weighing of pots and irrigation according to field capacity was used. For seed cultivation, 20 Sanguisorba minor seeds were sown in plastic pots at a depth of one centimeter and each pot was considered as an experimental plot. The pots containing zeolite treatments were regularly irrigated with ordinary water until the establishment stage of Sanguisorba minor seedlings (two-leaf stage) and after this stage they were irrigated until the end of harvest to apply drought stress. Number of seedlings The greened plants were reduced to three plants after the adverse factors were eliminated. The experiment continued until the control treatment had normal growth in the greenhouse. Finally, the analysis of variance of the data and comparison of the means were performed based on Duncan's test at a probability level of 5% (P<0.05) in SPSSvar22 software. The graphs were also drawn using Excell software.Results and discussionThe results of the analysis of variance of vegetative characteristics of Sanguisorba minor plant under drought and zeolite stress indicated that drought and zeolite alone and their interaction effects were significant on all investigated variables except the dry weight of aerial parts. Also, the results of comparing the average vegetative characteristics showed that at each level of field capacity depletion, with increasing amount of zeolite, the desired traits increased and showed more favorable growth.The results of the correlation coefficient between the traits measured in the Sanguisorba minor plant under drought stress and zeolite also showed that there is a high correlation (r≥0.8) among all the traits at the level of 1%.ConclusionAccording to the obtained results, it can be said that Sanguisorba minor is a relatively resistant plant to drought stress, and adding zeolite to the cultivation medium of this plant in water deficit conditions can moderate the drought stress on the plant, so that the plant in the condition of 40% depletion of field capacity with 4% weight of zeolite, it continues to grow optimally. Also, from the results of the present study, it can be concluded that the use of zeolite can prevent water loss in the condition of dehydration and provide it to the plant, and due to the compatibility of this mineral with nature and its affordable price, its use in the condition Dehydration is recommended. Therefore, it is suggested that by conducting studies on different plant species, drought-tolerant plants can be more accurately identified and introduced in order to use them to create drought-resistant vegetation in agricultural fields and rangelands.