Response of some cultivated plants to methanol as compared to supplemental irrigation

Field and laboratory experiments aimed at the assessment of the impact of diluted methyl alcohol applied overhead 4-5 times in one-week intervals on growth and yield of tomato, bean, sugar beet, oil seed rape, as compared to supplemental irrigation. The photosynthetic activity was measured in situ with an LC-4 gas analyser. The crops when treated with methanol solutions yielded 20-30% higher than the control. The yield increases were comparable to those caused by supplemental irrigation. The increased biomass synthesis caused either by irrigation or methanol application was due to enhanced carbon dioxide assimilation, transpiration, leaf conductivity, and higher activity of nitrate reductase and alkaline phosphatase.