Agronomic Interventions for Alleviating Water Stress and Optimizing Productivity of Field Crops: A Review

Water scarcity is the most significant concern facing agriculture today. Agriculture currently utilizes more than 70% of the world's freshwater, with much of it lost through evaporation, leaching and runoff. Drought escape and drought tolerance are the two significant mechanisms for plant growth under water-stressed conditions. Drought, a primary abiotic factor, limits crop productivity. It is a climatic phenomenon characterized by a prolonged lack of rainfall, resulting in moisture loss from the soil and a lack of water potential in plant tissues. It prevents the crop from obtaining its potential yield and substantially reduces crop production. Field crop rely on rainfall and are vulnerable to unpredictable drought stress throughout their vegetative and reproductive growth cycle. Drought stress is typical during the flowering stage in mostly crops, resulting in lower yield when cultivated with scarce rainfall. It can be reduced through agronomic means, such as mulching, tillage, intercropping and nutrient management, as well as chemical measures, such as the use of soil additives herbal hydrogel (Gond katira), foliar spray of salicylic acid and potassium nitrate. Herbal hydrgel helps in reducing the effect of drought stress on plants while also promoting increased plant growth and opverall performance. Foliar application of salicylic acid boosted bioactive chemical synthesis in the presence of water deficiency. Potassium nitrate to enhance water uptake, promote longer pod length and improve drought tolerance in plants.