Impact of moisture stress on root growth in chia (Salvia hispanica L.) genotypes

At the College of Horticulture in Mudigere, a protected pot experiment was carried out to investigate the impact of moisture stress on the performance of four local genotypes of chia viz., H. D. Kote local, Mysore local, T. Narasipura local and Nanjangud local with three moisture stress levels i. e. 50, 75 and 100% (Control) of field capacity. The experiment was laid out in a factorial completely randomized design with three replications. The study's findings suggested that different physiological constraints caused different genotypes to exhibit varying results on various attributes. Genotype H. D. Kote local showed better performance concerning root growth attributes. While, the genotype Mysore local was found inferior. Severe water stress (50% of FC) reduced number of roots per plant, root length (cm) and root thickness (mm). However, mild stress (75% of FC) was found beneficial for better root growth of chia genotypes.