Vol. 15 No. 7- 17 (2024): EFFECTS OF DROUGHT-RELATED STRESS ON THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF AMARANTUS CRUENTUS L.

Food insecurity and climate change directly affect the growing population and these effects can be overwhelming. The vegetable used in this study, Amaranthus cruentus L., which is a very common vegetable in Nigeria, has been confirmed to have some drought-tolerant characteristics. The study was carried out to relatively compare how the physiological properties of Amaranthus cruentus were affected by drought. Sandy-loamy soil was collected and drought treatments of (5, 10, 15, and 20 days) were set up while a control experiment that was not devoid of water at any point was set up. These levels of stress treatments were introduced at twelve (12) Weeks after Planting (WAP). From the study, both the Relative Water Content (RWC) and Net Assimilation Rate (NAR) reduce as treatment levels of drought increase. The stress tolerance index exhibits a little variation across all treatment regimes, for example, the Shoot Length Stress Tolerance Index (SLSTI) of A. cruentus swings gradually as the period of drought stress reduced; nevertheless, on day 10, the treatment showed considerably low (89.33 %) SLSTI. Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) exhibited its activities at the highest in the 15-day group while Catalase (CAT) and Peroxidase (POD) showed the highest expression in the 5-day group in comparison to other groups. The tolerance exhibited by this plant in the face of changing global climatic conditions is fascinating, thus A. cruentus presents itself as a succour for vegetal food availability in this time of global food shortage. Its production should therefore be encouraged.