The pivotal role of biochar in enhancement soil properties, morphophysiological and yield characters of barley plants under drought stress

Abstract

Drought is one of the most harmful abiotic stresses in arid and semiarid regions, so, field experiments were performed to examine biochar impact (15 or 20 t ha−1) on soil properties, physiological, morphological, and yield of barley under drought conditions. Our results displayed that drought caused a remarkable decrease in stem height and leaf area. Additionally, relative water contents (RWC%), chlorophyll a and b concentrations, as well as yield parameters were significantly reduced under drought. Conversely, lipid peroxidation (MDA), electrolyte leakage (EL%), and enzymatic activity were significantly augmented in the stressed plants during both seasons. Application of biochar led to improve leaves number (15.3), stem height (57%) and leaf area. Also, physiological characters like chlorophyll (72%) and RWC (33%), as well as yield, were increased considerably. Contrariwise, MDA and EL were reduced significantly (47 and 54%) under biochar application; furthermore, biochar led to regulate peroxidase and catalase activity in the stressed plants. It is concluded that biochar treatment can significantly improve soil properties, particularly soil EC (dSm-1), soil organic matter % and soil pH as well as increase yield characters via improving stress tolerance of barley under drought conditions; the best treatment was 20 t biochar ha−1 in the plants irrigated twice.