Abstract
Introduction Drought stress is a primary constraint on linseed ( Linum usitatissimum L.) productivity, impairing plant growth and disrupting key physiological processes. While adequate soil moisture can alleviate such stress, the crop is frequently exposed to water deficits during critical growth stages under field conditions. Salicylic acid (SA) is increasingly recognized as an effective foliar agent for mitigating drought effects through improved chlorophyll retention, relative water content (RWC), and physiological functioning. However, its efficacy across contrasting irrigation regimes in linseed remains poorly characterized. Methods This study evaluated the combined effects of irrigation regimes and foliar-applied SA concentrations on growth and physiological responses in linseed, with the objective of identifying an irrigation–SA combination capable of enhancing moisture-stress tolerance and overall crop performance under field conditions. A field experiment was conducted during Rabi 2024–25 in a strip-plot design with three replications. Three irrigation regimes (IR₁: rainfed; IR₂: two irrigations at branching and pre-flowering; IR₃: three irrigations at branching, pre-flowering, and capsule development) were assigned as horizontal factors and four SA concentrations (S₁: water spray; S₂: 50 mg/L; S₃: 75 mg/L; S₄: 100 mg/L) as vertical factors, with foliar sprays applied at the branching and pre-flowering stages. Results Irrigation markedly improved physiological performance: relative to IR₁, IR₃ increased dry matter accumulation by 16%, RWC by 40% and chlorophyll content by 23%, while IR₂ produced statistically comparable responses. The SA application also enhanced crop performance, with 100 mg/L raising dry matter by 11%, RWC by 9% and chlorophyll content by 19% over the water spray; responses at 75 mg/L were statistically at par with 100 mg/L. SA further contributed to improved water productivity. Interaction effects were strong, with IR₂ × S₄ recording the highest values—including a 53% increase in chlorophyll content and flowering occurring 11 days earlier, although IR₂ × S₃ generated comparable outcomes. Discussion Overall, two irrigations applied at branching and pre-flowering, combined with 75 mg/L foliar SA, emerged as an efficient and resource-conserving strategy for enhancing physiological functioning, alleviating drought stress, improving moisture-stress tolerance, and strengthening water productivity of linseed under field conditions.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 13
Claim · model-written summary
Three irrigations increased linseed dry matter accumulation by 16% versus rainfed conditions.
Verbatim
e0“relative to IR₁, IR₃ increased dry matter accumulation by 16%, RWC by 40% and chlorophyll content by 23%”
e1“IR₁: rainfed; IR₂: two irrigations at branching and pre-flowering; IR₃: three irrigations at branching, pre-flowering, and capsule development”
t0“linseed”
Claim · model-written summary
Three irrigations increased linseed relative water content by 40% versus rainfed conditions.
Verbatim
e0“relative to IR₁, IR₃ increased dry matter accumulation by 16%, RWC by 40% and chlorophyll content by 23%”
e1“IR₁: rainfed; IR₂: two irrigations at branching and pre-flowering; IR₃: three irrigations at branching, pre-flowering, and capsule development”
t0“linseed”
Claim · model-written summary
Three irrigations increased linseed chlorophyll content by 23% versus rainfed conditions.
Verbatim
e0“relative to IR₁, IR₃ increased dry matter accumulation by 16%, RWC by 40% and chlorophyll content by 23%”
e1“IR₁: rainfed; IR₂: two irrigations at branching and pre-flowering; IR₃: three irrigations at branching, pre-flowering, and capsule development”
t0“linseed”
Claim · model-written summary
Two irrigations produced physiological responses statistically comparable to three irrigations.
Verbatim
e0“IR₂ produced statistically comparable responses”
e1“IR₂: two irrigations at branching and pre-flowering; IR₃: three irrigations at branching, pre-flowering, and capsule development”
t0“linseed”
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar salicylic acid at 100 mg/L raised linseed dry matter by 11% versus water spray.
Verbatim
e0“100 mg/L raising dry matter by 11%, RWC by 9% and chlorophyll content by 19% over the water spray”
t0“linseed”
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar salicylic acid at 100 mg/L raised linseed relative water content by 9% versus water spray.
Verbatim
e0“100 mg/L raising dry matter by 11%, RWC by 9% and chlorophyll content by 19% over the water spray”
t0“linseed”
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar salicylic acid at 100 mg/L raised linseed chlorophyll content by 19% versus water spray.
Verbatim
e0“100 mg/L raising dry matter by 11%, RWC by 9% and chlorophyll content by 19% over the water spray”
t0“linseed”
Claim · model-written summary
Responses at 75 mg/L salicylic acid were statistically comparable to 100 mg/L.
Verbatim
e0“responses at 75 mg/L were statistically at par with 100 mg/L”
t0“linseed”
Claim · model-written summary
Salicylic acid improved linseed water productivity.
Verbatim
e0“SA further contributed to improved water productivity”
e1“S₁: water spray; S₂: 50 mg/L; S₃: 75 mg/L; S₄: 100 mg/L”
t0“linseed”
Claim · model-written summary
The two-irrigation plus 100 mg/L salicylic acid combination produced the highest chlorophyll content, 53% above reference.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“IR₂ × S₄ recording the highest values—including a 53% increase in chlorophyll content”
e1“IR₂: two irrigations at branching and pre-flowering”
e2“S₄: 100 mg/L”
t0“linseed”
Claim · model-written summary
The two-irrigation plus 100 mg/L salicylic acid combination advanced flowering by 11 days.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“IR₂ × S₄ recording the highest values—including a 53% increase in chlorophyll content and flowering occurring 11 days earlier”
t0“linseed”
Claim · model-written summary
The IR₂ × S₃ combination gave outcomes comparable to IR₂ × S₄.
Verbatim
e0“IR₂ × S₃ generated comparable outcomes”
e1“IR₂ × S₄ recording the highest values”
t0“linseed”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend two irrigations plus 75 mg/L foliar salicylic acid for linseed water productivity and drought tolerance.
Verbatim
e0“two irrigations applied at branching and pre-flowering, combined with 75 mg/L foliar SA, emerged as an efficient and resource-conserving strategy for enhancing physiological functioning, alleviating drought stress, improving moisture-stress tolerance, and strengthening water productivity of linseed under field conditions”
The same questions in other papers
irrigation · yield · Linum usitatissimum (flax)Positive and negative results
24 papers in the same direction as this paper · 3 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- negative
24 papers more in this group
See all 28 papers →irrigation · physiology: pigments · Linum usitatissimum (flax)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
irrigation · physiology: water · Linum usitatissimum (flax)Results agree
2 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.