الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Foliar-applied salicylic acid (SA) could provide a potential protection against drought stress in onion large-scale production. Two-season field experiments were consecutively conducted in 2013/14 and 2014/15 to study the effect of 1 and 2 mM SA on growth, yield, plant water relations, photosynthetic efficiency, osmoprotectants and water use efficiency (WUE) in two onions cultivars (i.e., Giza20 and Giza red) under four levels of irrigation (I120=120%, I100=100%, I80=80% and I60=60% of crop evapotranspiration). Foliar application of SA enhanced drought stress tolerance in onion plants by improving photosynthetic efficiency and plant water status as evaluated by membrane stability index and relative water content. Deficit irrigation substantially inhibited growth and productivity of onion plants. These results were positively reflected by improving plant growth, productivity and WUE under drought stress conditions.
The results could prove useful for developing sustainable management strategies for crop production with reduced irrigation water. Salicylic acid application may, in future, find application as a potential growth regulator for improving plant growth and yield under deficit irrigation by 20–40%.