Utilization of peat moss for drought stress alleviation as sustainable approach for tobacco cultivation

Drought poses a substantial ecological risk that constrains global agricultural output. This research seeks to explore influence of incorporating peat moss into soil on morphological traits, biochemical features, and qualitative properties of tobacco under drought stress. The current experiment entailed a pot experiment with drought severity (moderate and severe drought stress) (approximately 75 ± 5 % field capacity (FC) for well-irrigated conditions and ∼ 35 ± 5 % FC for severe water stress) and varying concentrations of peat moss (T 0 :0 g; T 1 :100 g; T 2 :300 g; T 3 :500 g of soil) applied to tobacco. The findings exhibited that drought stress significantly affected tobacco plants performance. Peat moss application significantly enhanced biomass, growth, and levels of total chlorophylls and carotenoids (31.03 % and 29.79 %), respectively. This study demonstrated that drought stress limited the proline accumulation and lipid peroxidation. However, the optimal use of peat moss improved soluble sugars (21.79 % and 10.19 %), elevated soluble protein (29.31 % and 20.11 %), and diminished proline accumulation (15.03 % and 10.11 %) along with MDA levels (17.39 % and 10.01 %) in both moderate and severe water-stressed conditions, respectively. Furthermore, the addition of peat moss improved leaf potassium concentrations (21.17 %) while limiting chloride ion levels (29.11 %) during severe drought conditions. Peat addition offers a great potential as an effective and sustainable approach to enhance drought resistance of plants. This study clearly highlighted peat moss treatment as an ecologically sustainable technique to increase plant resistance to drought, providing new perspectives on environmentally friendly agricultural practices.