نوع مقاله : کامل علمی - پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 'گروه آگروتکنولوژی ، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی - واحد مهاباد
2 دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد مهاباد، مهاباد
3 استادیار بخش تحقیقات چغندرقند، مرکز تحقیقات و آموزش کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی استان همدان، سازمان تحقیقات، آموزش و ترویج کشاورزی، همدان، ایران.
4 گروه آگروتکنولوژی ، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی - واحد مهاباد
چکیده
کلیدواژهها
موضوعات
عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسندگان [English]
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Sugar beet is a major source of sugar and is particularly sensitive to drought, which can cause yield reductions of 5-30%, especially in arid regions such as Iran. Drought stress adversely affects crop productivity by limitimg water availability. Seed priming, especially with low doses of UV radiation, has shown promise in enhancing germination and growth under stress conditions by improving water uptake and activating antioxidant defense mechanisms. Although UV radiation is generally harmful, low doses can enhance plant resilience to environmental stresses. Given Iran's arid climate, sugar beet production faces significant challenges, underscoring the need for strategies to reduce water consumption while maintaining yields. This study investigates the effects of UV-B priming on alleviating water stress in sugar beet, an area that remains relatively underexplored
Materials and Methods
This two-year field study (2021-2023) was conducted at the research farm of Mahabad University, Iran. The experiment was arranged as a split-plot design within a randomized complete block design with three replications. The main plots were assigned two irrigation regimes: normal (irrigation after 60 mm evaporation) and drought stress (irrigation after 120 mm evaporation). Sub-plots received UV-B seed priming treatments at three levels: control (UV1), 4 kJ m⁻² (UV2), and 6 kJ m⁻² (UV3). Seeds of the 'Dorothy' cultivar were sterilized and exposed to the respective UV-B doses using NARVA lamps prior to sowing. Crop management followed standard agronomic practices. The measured parameters included leaf relative water content, leaf area index, leaf proline content, root yield, and sugar-related traits (sugar content, white sugar yield, and extraction coefficient of sugar). Data were analyzed using SAS software (v. 9.1) for analysis of variance and mean comparisons (LSD test at 5% significance level). Additionally, biplot analysis was performed using the FactoMineR package in R Studio
Results and Discussion
The findings of this study demonstrate that UV-B seed priming significantly modulates the physiological and agronomic responses of sugar beet to drought stress. A significant year-by-irrigation interaction revealed that drought stress reduced the leaf area index by 19.29% and 37.82% in the first and second years, respectively. Relative water content (RWC) was significantly influenced by the interaction between irrigation and UV priming, with the UV2 treatment under normal irrigation exhibiting the highest RWC (71.79%). Notably, UV2 priming increased RWC by 16.64% and 19.21% under normal and drought conditions, respectively, compared with the control. Proline content was significantly affected by UV priming and its interaction with irrigation, with the highest accumulation observed under the combined stress of drought and the high-dose UV3 treatment, indicating a synergistic stress response. Furthermore, aerial dry weight and root yield were significantly influenced by these interactions; the UV2 treatment under normal irrigation yielded the highest values and was the only treatment that significantly increased root yield (by 18.43%) under drought stress. While the highest sugar content was associated with UV2 and UV3 treatments under drought stress, UV2 under normal irrigation achieved the maximum white sugar yield (11.97 t ha⁻¹). Importantly, under drought stress, UV2 priming increased white sugar yield by 30.33% compared with the control, highlighting its role in enhancing stress tolerance. Multivariate analysis corroborated these results, with cluster and biplot analyses (explaining 82.1% of total variance) confirming that UV2 under normal irrigation was associated to superior yield components. In contrast, UV2 under drought stress was linked with elevated sugar content, while high-dose UV3 under drought clustered with the highest proline level and the poorest growth
Conclusion
In conclusion, this study demonstrates that seed priming with ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation, particularly at the dose of 4 kJ m⁻² (UV2), is as an effective strategy to enhance both the quantitative and qualitative yield of sugar beet under varying irrigation regimes. The UV2 treatment not only significantly improved root yield and sugar content under drought stress but also consistently enhanced key growth and physiological parameters, including leaf relative water content, aerial dry weight, and sugar yield, under both well-watered and water-deficient conditions. These findings suggest that UV-B priming activates critical physiological and biochemical mechanisms that effectively mitigate the detrimental effects of drought stress while simultaneously improving overall crop performance. Therefore, pre-sowing treatment of sugar beet seeds with an optimal UV-B dose is recommended as a viable and cost-effective agricultural practice to bolster yield stability and sugar productivity in drought-prone environments.
References
Rasaei B, Jalali-Honarmand S, Ghobadi M, Zhou G. Effect of ultraviolet radiation and abscisic acid on activity of antioxidant enzymes and physiological and morphological traits of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) under different irrigation intervals. Journal of Plant Ecophysiology. 2020; 12 (40): 71-53. (in Persian). Doi:https://doi.org/10.22034/csrar.2021.226242.1065
Li D, Luo Z, Mou W, Wang Y, Ying T, Mao L. ABA and UV-C effects on quality, antioxidant capacity and anthocyanin content of strawberry fruit (Fragaria ananassa Duch.). Postharvest Biology and Technology. 2014; (90): 56-62. Doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2013;12.006
Sacala E, Demczuk A, Grzyoe E, ProsbaBialczyk U, Szajsner H. Impact of pre-sowing laser irradiation of seeds on sugar beet properties. International Agrophysics. 2012; 26: 295-300. Doi:https://doi.org/10.2478/v10247-012-0042-6
کلیدواژهها [English]