The effect of drought stress and foliar application with salicylic acid on qualitative and quantitative yield of Black cumin under Kerman climatic conditions

To study the effects of drought stress and foliar application with salicylic acid on yield andit’s components and percentage of essential oil of Nigella sativa L., a field experiment was conducted as split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications at research farm of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman during growing season of 2013- 2014. The main factor was drought that included in three levels: no tension (90 percent field capacity), moderate tension (70 percent field capacity) and severe tension (50 percent field capacity). The other factor included four concentrations of salicylic acid: zero (foliar application with distilled water), 5, 10 and 15 Micro molar salicylic acid for foliar application. The results showed that there were significant differences between traits including: the number of grains per plant, 1000 seeds weight, harvest index, essential oil and grain yield with applying drought and salicylic acid. The foliar application with salicylic acid (10 Mm) caused increasing 79.05 percent on the grain yield. The interaction of salicylic acid and drought stress on the number of grains in folicules, the percentage of essential oil and biological yield was significant. The interaction of third level of salicylic acid and moderate drought stress caused increasing 150 percent in essential oil. Therefore to obtain the maximum biological yield, the number of grains in folicules and essential oil percentage on drought condition, we can apply third level of SA (S3 = 10 Mm) and moderate irrigation in black cumin that is economic in arid places.