Nano-silicon application is an efficient novel approach to mitigate the deleterious impacts of drought stress on field crops, which is expected to increase owing to climate change, especially in arid regions. Two-season field studies investigated the influence of foliar-applied nano-silicon (0.5, 1, and 1.5 mM) on physiological and biochemical attributes and their impacts on crop water productivity (CWP) and the agronomic traits of faba beans (Vicia faba). The plants were evaluated under two irrigation regimes: well-watered (100% ETc giving 406 mm ha⁻¹) and drought stress (65% ETc giving 264 mm ha⁻¹). It was found that drought stress significantly decreased gas exchange (leaf net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and rate of transpiration), water relations (relative water content and membrane stability index), nutrient uptake (N, P, K⁺, and Ca⁺²), flavonoids, and phenolic content. In contrast, drought stress significantly increased oxidative stress (H₂O₂ and O2·-) and enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities compared with the well-watered treatment. These influences of drought stress were negatively reflected in seed yield-related traits and CWP. However, foliar treatment with nano-silicon, particularly with 1.5 mM, limited the devastating impact of drought stress and markedly enhanced all the aforementioned parameters. Therefore, exogenously applied nano-silicon could be used to improve the CWP and seed and biological yields of faba bean plants under conditions with low water availability in arid environments.

纳米硅应用是减轻干旱胁迫对大田作物的有害影响的一种有效的新方法，由于气候变化，特别是在干旱地区，这种影响预计会增加。两季田间研究调查了叶面施用纳米硅（0.5、1 和 1.5 mM）对生理和生化属性的影响及其对作物水分生产力（CWP）和蚕豆农艺性状的影响。蚕豆）。在两种灌溉制度下对植物进行评估：充分浇水（100% ETc 提供 406 mm ha ^-1）和干旱胁迫（65% ETc 提供 264 mm ha ^-1）。发现干旱胁迫显着降低气体交换（叶净光合速率、气孔导度和蒸腾速率）、水分关系（相对含水量和膜稳定性指数）、养分吸收（N、P、K ⁺和 Ca ^{+ 2} )、黄酮类和酚类含量。相反，干旱胁迫显着增加了氧化胁迫（H ₂ O ₂和哦2·——) 以及酶促和非酶促抗氧化活性与充分浇水的处理相比。干旱胁迫的这些影响负面反映在种子产量相关性状和 CWP 中。然而，用纳米硅进行叶面处理，尤其是 1.5 mM，限制了干旱胁迫的破坏性影响，并显着增强了所有上述参数。因此，外源应用纳米硅可用于在干旱环境中水分利用率低的条件下提高蚕豆植物的 CWP 和种子和生物产量。