Effect of drought pre-treatment on morphological and physiological characteristics of forage pea (Pisum sativum ssp. arvense L.) under drought stress

This study was carried out to determine the effect of drought pre-treatment on morphological and physiological characteristics of forage pea genotypes differing in drought tolerance, under drought stress. The experiment was conducted in greenhouse of the Agricultural Research Center in Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University as a pot study with Completely Randomized Factorial Design. In the study; plant height, root height, above-ground fresh and dry weight, root fresh and dry weight, number of leaves, leaf area, leaf/stem ratio, relative water content, total chlorophyll content, free proline content and MDA content which formed as a result of lipid peroxidation were analysed. As a result of the research, it was determined that the drought pre-treatment enhanced the drought resistance of the forage pea genotypes which have moderate and sensitive drought tolerance compared to the control, by creating stress memory. According to the research findings, it was concluded that drought pre-treatment could be a strategy that can be applied to reduce the negative effects of drought stress in forage pea.