Determination of Some Morphological and Physiological Changes Related to Water Stress in The Gemlik Variety of Olive Sapling

Abstract

The present study was conducted with four-year-old “Gemlik” variety olive saplings grown in pots under field conditions. In the study, the responses of olive saplings to drought stress were investigated based on morphological and physiological parameters with various irrigation applications. The study was conducted in the Research and Application Farm at Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Agriculture in 2021. The experiments were set up with to the randomized plot design with 3 replicates. Irrigation applications were set up as 20% (I₂₀) 40% (I₄₀) 60% (I₆₀), 80% (I₈₀), 100% (I₁₀₀) of the water consumption of the plant. The irrigation volume varied between 16.32 and 81.57 L pot^-1 during the irrigation season and the corresponding plant water consumption varied between 19.49 and 85.08 L pot^-1. It was determined that the plant height varied between 3.50 cm and 11.00 cm, shoot length between 0.14 cm and 12.4 cm, stem diameter between 0.70 mm and 2.11 mm, and shoot diameter between 0.53 mm and 1.84 mm. Leaf relative water content varied between 52.61 % and 71.68%, stomatal conductance varied between 260.29 mmol m^-2 s^-1 and 535.80 mmol m^-2 s^-1, chlorophyll content varied between 78.00 and 82.76, and the difference between leaf temperature and air temperature varied between 1.93°C and 5.31°C. In conclusion, it could be suggested that the Gemlik variety olive is sensitive to soil moisture deficiency, morphological and physiological structures were affected by the irrigation volume during the growth season, and 60% of the reduced moisture (I₆₀) should be applied every 4 days based on the current study findings.