Abstract
Due to the unpredictable climate change, drought stress is being considered as one of the major threats to cropproduction. Wheat (Triticum aestivumL. cv. BARI Gom-26) being a dry season crop frequently faces scarcity ofwater and results in a lower yield. Therefore, this experiment aims to explore the role of different organic amend-ments (OAs) in mitigating drought stress-induced damage. The pot experiment consisted of different organicamendments viz. compost, vermicompost and poultry manure @0.09 kg m-2soil, biochar @2.5% w/w soil andchitosan @1% w/w soil which was imposed on the plants grown under both well-watered and drought conditions.Results showed that drought stress reduced plant height (15%), SPAD value (16%), relative water content (13%),number of spikelet spike-1(17%), number of grains spike-1(12%), and 100-grain weight (18%). Organic amend-ments act as a protectant and reduce drought stress-induced damages by enhancing the morpho-physiologicaland yield attributes. Vermicompost enhanced SPAD value by 18%, number of spikelets spike-1by 20%, numberof grains spike-1by 17%, whereas poultry manure increased plant height by 16% under drought condition com-pared to control plant. Unlike other OAs applied, vermicompost was proved to be capable of reducing the higherlipid peroxidation and proline content raised by drought condition. Drought stress-induced increment of catalase,ascorbate peroxidase and glutathione reductase activities were also efficiently modulated by the organic amend-ment application. The present study concluded that OAs play significant roles in alleviating drought stress-induced damages by improving the morpho-physiological attributes and among the different types of OAs usedvermicompost performed better which in addition ceased the production of reactive oxygen species.