Screening of marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cultivars for drought stress based on vegetative and physiological characteristics

Drought tolerance is an important genotypic character to be exploited for the plant cultivar selection under water deficit conditions. In the recent study, we examined the response of two marigold cultivars (Inca and Bonanza) under different regimes of drought stress. The aim was to determine the best performing cultivar under water/drought stress. Three irrigation treatments include; 4 days (T 1 ), 6 days (T 2 ) and 8 days (T 3 ) in comparison to control 1 day (T 0 ) interval were imposed. Response characters under study were morphological, physiological and anatomical. Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with four replications in two factorial arrangements was followed for experiment layout. The results revealed that increasing water stress adversely affect plant height, in both cultivars. Both cultivars showed a decreasing trend to the number of flowers under water stress. Total chlorophyll contents including a, b were also showed reduction under prolonged drought treatment in both cultivars from (2.7 mg g -1 FW) to (1 mg g -1 FW). Overall, the performance of cultivar (cv.) Inca was satisfactory under water stress regimes. These results are helpful for selecting drought tolerant marigold cultivars in water scarce areas.