improving growth and establishment in some cool-season plants under drought conditions using water-superabsorbent polymer‎

Objective: approximately one-third of the world’s land faces a precipitation shortage, and half of it receives annual precipitation of less than 250 mm. the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of varying rates of superabsorbent polymer (a-200) on the establishment and seedling growth of selected cool-season plants under drought conditions.methods: the experiments were conducted as a factorial arrangement with three replications at the research station of the college of agriculture and natural resources, razi university, iran. in the field experiment, factors included cool-season plant species and anionic superabsorbent polymer (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 grams per square meter), and in the pot experiment, the factors included cool-season plant species, super-absorbent polymer (0, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 grams per kilogram of soil), and water-deficit stress [favorable (3-day irrigation interval) and stress (6-day irrigation interval)]. cool-season plants included safflower, canola, and alfalfa.results: the results showed that with increasing the superabsorbent polymer rate, seedling dry weight, plant height, and emergence percentage and rate were significantly increased. increasing the irrigation interval decreased these characteristics. the superabsorbent polymer reduced the negative effect of water deficit stress.conclusion: a superabsorbent polymer amount of eight grams per square meter is recommended for a higher seedling establishment in the studied safflower, canola, and alfalfa plants.