Bishnu Bhusal, Mukti Ram Poudel, Rishav Pandit, Rashmi Regmi, Pritika Neupane, Kushal Bhattarai, Binju Maharjan, Bigyan KC and Suprava Acharya
Abiotic stress such as drought, temperature and salinity are the major constraints that limit the worldwide production of maize (Zea mays L.). The development of stress tolerant crop varieties will be beneficial in areas prone to different stresses. Recently, several progresses have been made in identifying genes that are responsible for stress tolerance. Photosynthesis pigments are damaged by drought stress which reduces the light absorption efficiency. NAC proteins are associated with drought tolerance in plants. Indel-572, located 572-base pair upstream of start codon of ZmNAC111, is significantly associated with seedling survival rate. The application of 2(3, 4-Dicholorophenoxy) Triethylamine (DCPTA) improved growth and photosynthetic activity of plants under drought stress. The effect of drought stress was more severe to maize plants compared to heat stress. The major cause of saline soil is the high concentration of NaCl. The plant growth and productivity in saline soil is retarded mainly due to ion toxicity and osmotic stress. Increase in global temperature has shorten crop growing period which can be alleviated by planting varieties requiring more days to mature.