POTASSIUM UPTAKE IN RELATION TO DROUGHT TOLERANCE OF CHICKPEA UNDER RAIN-FED CONDITIONS

Potassium is accumulated in substantial amount in water stressed plants, contributing to osmotic adjustment. Eight varieties of chickpea were field grown according to randomized block design with three replications during two consecutive crop seasons to explore the role of K uptake in drought tolerance of chickpea under rain-fed conditions. Plant water relation and other physiological parameters were measured at 70days after planting, while potassium uptake and yield parameters were recorded at harvest. The varieties were divided into high (HKU), medium (MKU) and low (LKU) K uptake groups, using average K uptake across the seasons. All the data were statistically analyzed group-wise. The HKU, followed by MKU and LKU (i.e. HKU>MKU>LKU) gave the highest values for most of the parameters studied including seed yield and crop biomass. The HKU also exhibited the lowest osmotic potential together with maintenance of elevated water content and turgor in plants compared to MKU and LKU. There was significant season-group interaction regarding most parameters including seed yield and crop biomass. However, such an interaction was not significant regarding K uptake, though varietal group pattern of K uptake was similar to that of seed yield and crop biomass (i.e. HKU>MKU>LKU), indicating that promising chickpea varieties might be selected under rain-fed conditions using K uptake.