Biostimulant Potential of Organic and Inorganic Amendments to Alleviate the Drought Stress in Wheat Crop in Pakistan

Drought is one of the most harmful environmental factors that adversely affect the growth of economically important crops and global food security. Its prevalence is increasing worldwide as a result of global warming and about one-third of the world land area is prone to drought. Droughts are also common in Pakistan that affects the agriculture. Wheat is the most important cereal crop in all over the world, but in Pakistan its yield is much lower than other countries. So, under this scenario there is a need to develop environment friendly approaches to mitigate the effects of drought stress for sustainable agricultural productivity. Use of organic matter can enhance soil moisture holding capacity and allow penetration of plant roots to access soil moisture and nutrients for higher crop yield. So, it is important to keep soil organic matter at reasonable levels to preserve the healthy soil. Cow dung manure and press mud both are good source of organic matter that can enhance nutrients and water holding capacity of soil. Silicon application can also improve the plant resistance to water deficiency under drought. Hence, the combine application of organic and inorganic amendments may be considered a practical approach to stimulate the growth and biomass of wheat crop under drought stress.