Effect of Drought on the Growth of Two Panicum maximum jacq. Cultivars in Southern Libya.

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during the agricultural season spring 2019 to investigate the effect of drought on two cultivars of Panicum maximum (Tanzania and Mombasa) grown at the south of Libya.  There were two irrigation treatments;  the control, where the plants were  irrigated daily until the end of the experiment, and  drought treatment, where the plants were watered daily for only two weeks, after which the irrigation was stopped until the end of the experiment. The crop responded to drought by reducing the plant height particularly in Tanzania cultivar. Stem diameter was also affected by drought in both cultivars. It was 1.36, 1.15, 1.63 and 1.10 cm in irrigated Tanzania, water stressed Tanzania, irrigated Mombasa and water stressed Mombasa, respectively. The effects of drought on carbohydrate and carotenes were not consistent. At the end of the growing seasons, irrigated Tanzania had significantly higher chlorophyll content than the water stressed one, but this was not the case in Mombasa. In general, the two cultivars were affected by drought, but they managed to tolerate and survive for 30 days without water. Moreover, Tanzania in general had better performance in drought than Mombasa.

Keyword: Drought, Tanzania, Mombasa, Stem diameter, Plant height, Carbohydrate