ISSN : 2348-8069 Int.J.Adv. Res.Biol.Sci.2014; 1(6):65-77 65 Research Article Evaluation of Jatropha Deoiled Cake Based Composts for Sustain Growth of Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Under Drought Conditions Shivom Singh 1 and A. K. Sharma 2 Department of Biological Sciences, CBSH G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology Pantnagar - 263145, UA, India *Corresponding author: anilksharma_99@yahoo.com Introduction Rice (Oryza sativa L.) has been the important primary cereal and largest irrigated crop for more than two third of the world's population (Dowling et al. 1998; Roel et al. 1999). More than 75% of the world’s rice supply comes from irrigated land of Asia; therefore, the present and future food security depends largely on the rice production system. This system requires huge amount of water for production (Tabbal et al. 2002). The available amount of water for irrigation, however, is increasingly getting scarce (Pirdashti et al. 2009). The severity of drought is unpredictable as it depends on many factors such as occurrence and distribution of rainfall, evaporative demands and moisture storing capacity of soils (Wery et al. 1994). Environmental factors that impose water-deficit stress, such as drought, salinity and temperature extremes, place major limits on plant productivity (Boyer, 1982). Rice is often considered as one of the most drought sensitive cereal crop. Water deficit mainly occurs during the growing season, and the intensity of such stress depends on the time span and frequency of water deficit. In country like India, drought is a serious constraint on the productivity of main agricultural crops such as wheat and rice. It is known that drought can affects plant physiology, inhibits root growth, dry matter production and also reduces the yield and its components (Agnew and Warren, 1996; Tas and International Journal of Advanced Research in Biological Sciences www.ijarbs.com Abstract Drought stress is a major yield destabilizing factor affecting a large area under agriculture. However, compost plays a vital role in tolerance of drought stress as it is a prerequisite for favorable soil properties such as aggregate stability and porosity beside supply of nutrients. In present study two different composts were used: (i), a mixture of jatropha deoiled cake, rice straw and cow dung (JRsC) (ii) mixture of jatropha deoiled cake, neem cake, mushroom spent and Cuscuta reflexa (JNMsC). Pot culture experiment was setup under glasshouse conditions to determine the drought stress mitigating effect of compost on rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants. Seedlings of 25-day-old rice (Sahbhagi Dhan var.) were transplanted to plastic pots filled with soil and compost (20%). Irrigation was stopped to induce drought stress before flowering stages. Photosynthetic pigments, nitrate reductase activity, proline and activities of antioxidant enzyme (Superoxide dismutase) were estimated from leaves of both control and compost treated plants. Drought stress caused significant decline in photosynthetic pigments and nitrate reductase activity, while composts under proper irrigation showed significant increment in the content of both the parameters over control. There was a significant enhancement in proline and superoxide dismutase production in control plants under drought stress when compared to irrigated control as well as compost amended drought stressed plants. Results depicts that compost can be used as a precursor to increase productivity and sustainability of crops. . Keywords: Compost, Drought, Chlorophyll, SOD, NRA, Proline, Oryza sativa.