Evaluation of the effect of foliar application on some physiological indicators affecting the growth and yield of barley cultivars under drought stress conditions

In order to investigate the effect of foliar application on some physiological indicators of growth of barley cultivars, a study in the form of split plots in the form of complete randomized block design with three replications was performed at Kabutar Abad Agricultural Research Station in Isfahan in 2017-2018 cropping year. Treatments included five levels of foliar application ie: no foliar application, zinc sulfate, potassium sulfate, salicylic acid and superoxide dismutase in the tillering phase with an interval of seven days and in three turns, in the main plots and cultivar factor including Goharan, Mehr and Armaghan were placed in the sub-plots. Irrigation was complete and limited. The results showed that foliar application of zinc sulfate increased the leaf area index (50%), relative growth rate (11%), leaf area ratio (54%) and grain yield (18%) compared to the control and the highest leaf area index and leaf area ratio were obtained by the Armaghan cultivar. The highest total dry matter (1027 g.m-2) content and crop growth rate (24.17 g.m-2.day-1) were obtained by salicylic acid and the highest net absorption rate (10.99 g.m-2.day-1) was obtained by control solution. During the growing season, the highest amount of total dry matter, crop growth rate, net absorption rate and relative growth rate were produced by Goharan cultivar compared to other cultivars, which indicates the optimal use of environmental conditions and higher yield production.