**3.1 Escape, avoidance and tolerance mechanisms**

To escape the pernicious effects of drought stress on plant health and productivity, some plants utilize mechanisms involving shortening of the life cycle by rapid plant development, self-reproduction, and seasonal growth before the beginning of the drought season (**Figure 4**) [40]. Among all, early flowering is perhaps the best possible escape adaptive mechanism in plants [41]. However, this mechanism can connote a considerable reduction in the plant's growing period compromising plant productivity in some cases [42].

In avoidance strategy, high plant water potential is maintained through transpiration loss reduction and the increased water uptake from well-established root systems [43]. Xeromorphic features such as the presence of hairy structure on leaves and cuticles in some cases do help to maintain high water potentials in plant tissues [44]. It is notable that overdevelopment of these structures may lead to reduced productivity and reduced decreased size of vegetative and reproductive parts [45]. On the contrary, an adaptive tolerance mechanism at the photosynthetic level involves reductions in the plant's total leaf area and limited expansion of new leaves. Likewise,
