ABSTRACT
Abstract ................................................................................................. 174 10.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 174 10.2 Threshold Levels of Heat-Stress ................................................ 176 10.3 Plant Adaptation to Heat Stress .................................................. 177 10.4 Reactions of Vegetable Crops to Heat Stress ............................. 180 10.5 Development of Heat-Stress Tolerance ...................................... 187 10.6 Traditional Breeding Strategies .................................................. 188 10.7 Molecular and Biotechnological Strategies ............................... 191 10.8 Conclusions and Future Prospects ............................................. 192 Keywords .............................................................................................. 192 References ............................................................................................. 192
SHIRIN AKHTAR1, ABHISHEK NAIK2, and PRANAB HAZRA2
ABSTRACT
Environmental stress is the primary cause of crop losses worldwide, reducing average yields for most major crops by more than 50%. High temperatures and limited soil moisture are the major causes of low yields of vegetables. Elevated temperature can disrupt the normal growth and development of plants, which ultimately affects crop productivity. Under heat stress seed germination, seedling and vegetative growth, flowering and fruit set, and fruit ripening are adversely affected. The plants respond to the heat stress by altering different morphological, anatomical, physiological and biochemical mechanisms. High temperature stress can be avoided by crop management practices, viz., selection of proper sowing methods, choice of proper sowing date, cultivars, irrigation methods,etc., as well as by developing improved cultivars resistant to heat stress. The most recent trend in control of heat stress is by use of molecular tools.
