Abstract
Drought, particularly terminal drought, reduces the yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Terminal drought tolerance and water use patterns were evaluated under controlled conditions in 10 genotypes of desi chickpea. Withholding water from early podding reduced vegetative growth, reproductive growth, seed yield, and water use efficiency for seed yield in all genotypes. The genotype Neelam, which produced the highest seed yield when water was withheld, used the least water when well-watered; however, its aboveground biomass at maturity did not differ significantly from six of the nine other genotypes. Indeed, the water-stressed Neelam had the lowest daily transpiration rate during the early stages of water stress and the highest during the later stages, thereby maintaining the highest soil water content in the first 16 days after water was withheld, which enabled higher pod production, lower pod abortion, and better seed filling. Genotypes differed in the threshold value of the fraction of transpirable soil water when flowering and seed set ceased in the water-stress treatment. We conclude that a conservative water use strategy benefits seed yield of chickpea exposed to water shortage during early podding.
Highlights
Water shortage during the reproductive phase, termed “terminal drought,” is a major constraint to the yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) whether crops are grown on stored soil moisture in subtropical areas or on current rainfall in Mediterranean climatic regions (Siddique and Sedgley, 1986, 1987; Leport et al, 1999; Kashiwagi et al, 2015)
Chosen for their similar phenologies in the field, the time to first flower varied from 62 days after sowing (DAS) in CICA1229 to 75 DAS in DICC8156 (P < 0.001), while their corresponding time to 50% flowering ranged from 69 DAS to 81 DAS (P < 0.001; Table 1)
Podding in the 10 genotypes commenced from 89–94 DAS (P = 0.296) and time to 50% podding ranged from 94 DAS in CICA1229 to 98 DAS in DICC8218 (P < 0.01; Table 1)
Summary
Water shortage during the reproductive phase, termed “terminal drought,” is a major constraint to the yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) whether crops are grown on stored soil moisture in subtropical areas or on current rainfall in Mediterranean climatic regions (Siddique and Sedgley, 1986, 1987; Leport et al, 1999; Kashiwagi et al, 2015). Global chickpea production is estimated to be reduced by 33% by drought stress (Kashiwagi et al, 2015). A field study of 108 chickpea genotypes showed a two-fold range in yield when grown in a water-limited Mediterranean-type climate, indicating variation in drought tolerance (Pang et al, 2017) which was further evaluated for selected genotypes in the present controlled-environment experiment. Stomata progressively close as the soil dries to slow further water loss
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