Determining the Impact of Moisture Stress on Leaf Traits of Chia (Salvia hispanica L.)

India, which also remains high under the threat of malnutrition, has scarce commercial cultivation of the chia crop and its consumption as well. Currently, chia seed offers a huge potential in the industries of health, food, animal feed, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals, due to its functional components. The present investigation was planned to investigate the genetic potentiality of four local chia genotypes across three moisture stress levels. A pot experiment was conducted at College of Horticulture, Mudigere, Karnataka, India, under protected conditions to study the effect of moisture stress on the performance of four local genotypes of chia, viz., H. D. Kote local, Mysore local, T. Narasipura local and Nanjangud local, with three moisture stress levels, i.e. 50, 75 and 100 % (Control) of field capacity (FC). The experiment was laid out in a factorial completely randomised design with three replications. The results of the study indicated that different genotypes showed variable results on different attributes due to varying physiological constraints. Genotype H. D. Kote local showed better performance concerning leaf functional traits. While the genotype Mysore local was found to be inferior. Severe water stress (50 % of FC) reduced the leaf area per plant (cm2/plant) and leaf area index. Therefore, control (100 % of FC) was found beneficial for better leaf functional traits of chia genotypes. The leaf area index was significantly influenced by different stress levels. Maximum leaf area index at all the stages of crop growth till harvest was recorded under control (100 % of FC) and minimum in the higher stress level (50 % of FC). Thus, stress imposition showed a negative impact on the leaf area index. However, the interaction between different genotypes and stress levels did not result in a significant difference in specific leaf area and specific leaf weight.