Published Paper Details:

Drought stress is considered as one of the most adverse abiotic stresses which is a threat to majority of the plant growth and productivity. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify the drought tolerant genotype/s of Cluster bean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.Taub.) for the semi-arid regions. Abiotic stresses have considerable influence on biomass and seed yield parameters of crop plants. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the moisture deficit stress on biomass and seed yield parameters of three cluster bean genotypes RGC-1025, RGC-936 and HGS-563 during winter season 2014. The stress was imposed during the initiation of flowering stage and the observations were recorded at the time of harvest for growth, biomass and seed yield parameters. All the selected genotypes recorded reduction under stress condition as compared with well watered condition for morphological, biomass and seed yield traits, however the magnitude of reduction varied with genotype. Among the three genotypes, the total biomass at harvest was highest with HGS-563 while with RGC-936 under stress. The seed yield was highest with RGC-936 under both moisture levels while HGS-563 recorded lowest seed yield as well as highest reduction with stress. Among all the three genotypes assessed, the genotype RGC-936 performed best in both moisture levels for biomass and seed yield parameters.