The effect of foliar application of nano-zinc oxide on yield and water use efficiency of foxtail millet in drought stress conditions

In order to study the effect of nano- zinc oxide and drought stress on yield, yield components and water use efficiency (WUE) of foxtail millet, a split-plot experiment was done based on RCBD with three replications in 2012 at Research Farm of Islamic Azad University, Birjand branch. Irrigation treatments including optimal irrigation (%100 of plant water-requirement) and drought stress (%50 plant water-requirement) were considered as main-plots. Zinc foliar application treatment as ZnO with concentration of (3000, 6000 and 12000 ppm) and nano ZnO (250, 500 and 1000 ppm) were considered as sub-plots. Results showed that drought stress declined panicle number per unit area, seed number per panicle, 1000- seed weight, seed yield, harvest index, and water-use efficiency. The greatest seed yield was achieved using optimal irrigation treatment (%100 water-requirement) and zinc oxide fertilizer with the concentration of 6000 ppm. On the other hand, the effect of zinc oxide foliar application (typical and nano) was non-significant on all studied characteristics.