Evaluation of Drought Tolerance of the Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) Ecotypes in Kerman Province

Subject Areas : Journal of plant ecophysiology

Elham Moslemi ¹ , Mohammadmehdi Akbarian ² , Seid Zabihllah Ravari ³ , Nader Modafeh-Behzadi ⁴ , Yavor Jalaian Saleh ⁵

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Received: 2025-01-14 Accepted : 2025-01-17 Published : 2025-01-18

Keywords: Drought stress, Cumin Ecotype, Kerman.,

Abstract :

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.), one of the most important medicinal and spice plants, is well-suited for cultivation in arid and semi-arid regions of Iran due to its short growth cycle and low water requirements. To evaluate the drought tolerance of cultivated cumin ecotypes, a split-plot experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications at the Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center of Kerman Province during the 2021 and 2022 growing seasons. This study examined the effects of drought stress at three levels (full irrigation, irrigation cessation after 50% flowering, and irrigation cessation after 100% flowering) on five ecotypes (Mahan, Kuhbanan, Khusf, Sabzevar, and Kashmar). The studied traits included the number of sub- branches, number of umbels per plant, number of umbellets, number of seeds per plant, seed weight per plant, straw weight, grain yield, biological yield, essential oil percentage and yield, harvest index, and physiological traits (leaf relative water content, water loss, and ion leakage).

The results indicated that grain yield, biological yield, straw weight, seed weight per plant, number of umbels per plant, number of umbellets, number of seeds per plant, number of sub- branches, and harvest index significantly decreased under drought stress. Multivariate regression analysis using the backward method revealed that the number of umbels, number of seeds per plant, seed weight, essential oil percentage, leaf relative water content, and ion leakage significantly contributed to the regression model.

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