Influence of drought stress on crop growth and development: a review

Abstract

Studies testified that crops face diverse abiotic stresses in field environments which are either toxic or retard crop growth and development and one prominent amongst them is drought. Drought has been detected to alter molecular, physical, physiological and biochemical developments with significant effects on growth and development. Drought unfavorably affects crop production more than other specific stress form. Crops have advanced exceptional systems of stresses adaptive measures to bear drought stresses. In the present review, drought is seen as period of time without considerable precipitation throughout which water contents of soil are reduced to such levels that plants go through from dearth of water. The bond between plants and water stress is designated as fluctuating with different environments. Water shortages are described to have main effects on plant photosynthetic dimensions and repressed the enzyme‑nitrate reductase. Water Use Efficiency (WUE), a biological trait related with drought acceptance, referred to as the total of biomass gathered per component of water. Crop Water Use (CWE) and WUE are defined as changing with changed crops. Measuring effects of drought on crop production is problematic owing to the facts that other features like poor irrigation practices, over exploitation of land etc. combined with drought to impact on crops. Drought confrontation machineries are stated to have been grouped into drought avoidance and drought resistance. The former referred to as the adoption of capacities of plants for reducing while the latter related to physiological traits advanced for controlling water use etc. Several innovative methods have been established in abating the adverse effects of drought stress. Notwithstanding the remarkable improvements registered, there is still a task ahead for enhancement in drought tolerance. Thus, it is recommended that future researches should employ biotechnological and molecular methods to advance genetically engineered crops with enhanced tolerance against drought stress. Crop physiology is inevitable in contributing to plant breeding programmes intended to expand drought resistance. The objective of this review is to understand how drought affects plant development by examining the causes and effects of drought-induced stress on plants