Abstract
Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) may contribute to the agro-ecological transition of cropping systems in Europe, but its productivity is severely affected by summer drought. New drought-avoidance cropping strategies, such as early sowing, require cultivars with high early plant growth under suboptimal conditions. This study aims at phenotyping early-stage root and shoot traits of 10 cultivars commonly grown in Europe. Cultivars were grown in minirhizotrons under two soil moisture status in controlled conditions. Root and shoot traits were evaluated at 10 days after sowing. Field early growth of two cultivars was also analyzed under early and conventional sowing dates. A significant intraspecific variability (p < 0.05) was found for most investigated shoot and root morpho-physiological traits regardless of the soil moisture status under controlled conditions. However, no significant difference among cultivars (p > 0.05) was found in terms of root architectural traits that were mainly affected by water stress. Total root length was positively correlated with shoot length and shoot dry matter (p < 0.05). Under field conditions, the differences between cultivars were expressed by the canopy cover at emergence, which determines the subsequent canopy cover dynamics. The significant early growth difference among cultivars was not related to the maturity group. Cultivars characterized by high root depth and length, high root density and narrow root angle could be considered as good candidates to cope with water stress via better soil exploration. New agronomic strategies mobilizing the diversity of cultivars could thus be tested to improve soybean water use efficiency in response to climate change.
Highlights
IntroductionEuropean market imports annually around 17 million tons of crude proteins, of which 13 million tons come from soybean (corresponding to 30 million tons of equivalent grains) from the American continent [1]
European market imports annually around 17 million tons of crude proteins, of which 13 million tons come from soybean from the American continent [1]
In new insights into thethe characterization of root morphoInsummary, summary,our ourstudy studybrought brought new insights into characterization of root morphysiological and and architectural traits of of common soybean pho-physiological architectural traits common soybeancultivars cultivarsgrown grown in Europe
Summary
European market imports annually around 17 million tons of crude proteins, of which 13 million tons come from soybean (corresponding to 30 million tons of equivalent grains) from the American continent [1]. An increase in the soybean acreage in this region is associated with high variability in soybean production as drought and irrigation availability are two key limiting factors affecting soybean yield [2]. The most critical period to water stress for the crop begins from the flowering stage [4]. Under these circumstances, early sowing has been proposed as a low-water-input strategy to grow soybean under summer drought [5]. Earlier sowing in wheat allows deeper root growth with higher access to water that increased grain yield under climate change [8]
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