APPRAISING DROUGHT TOLERANCE IN LOCAL ACCESSIONS OF SESBANIA [SESBANIA SESBAN (L.) MERRIL.] USING BIOMASS PRODUCTION, RELATIVE MEMBRANE PERMEABILITY AND PHOTOSYNTHETIC CAPACITY AS SELECTION CRITERIA

摘要

In order to identify accessions/lines of sesbania [Sesbania sesban (L.) Merril.] which could produce high quantity offorage for livestock in hot and arid environments, eight diverse accessions (Shahpur, Sialkot, Khanewal 1, Khanewal 2,Sahianwala, Bhowana 1, Bhowana 2 and Chiniot) collected from different regions of Punjab, Pakistan were screened fordrought tolerance using relative membrane permeability and photosynthetic capacity as selection criteria. Plant fresh and drybiomass and gas exchange characteristics [net photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate (E), sub-stomatal CO2 conc. (Ci)and water-use efficiency (A/E)] of all sesbania accessions were affected adversely due to water shortage, but the response ofall sesbania cultivars was not consistent to dry conditions appraised using different physiological parameters. On the basis ofplant biomass production under dry conditions, accessions Shahpur, Khanewal 2, Sahianwala and Bhowana 2 were rankedas superior, whereas Sialkot was ranked as the poorest performer of all accessions, so the earlier accessions could be grownon arid or semi-arid soils with some plausible management practices.