Tolerance of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to different durations of simulated shallow water table condition

Abstract

Shallow water table problem has lessened farmer’s interest in cultivating vegetables at riparian wetland in Indonesia. At present, riparian wetlands are mostly underutilized. Objective of this study was to evaluate tolerance of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) to shallow water table condition. Common bean variety of PV072 was used in this study. Research was conducted in Jakabaring, South Sumatra, Indonesia; from November 2016 to February 2017. Leaf and root growth or damage can be used as an indicator of stress tolerance in plants exposed to unfavorable soil conditions. Results of our study indicated that roots of common bean were unable to survive in water saturated condition below water table, but the plants were able to compensate for this constraint by increasing root biomass within aerobic substrate above water table. Moreover, after termination of shallow water table treatment, common bean was able to regrow their roots into the ex-saturated zone. Common bean plants produced marketable yield albeit limited rhizosphere space. Interestingly, the plants exposed to 24 days of shallow water table produced the highest yield. In conclusion, common bean can be considered as tolerant vegetable to shallow water table. It should be noted that bean leaf reached 90 percent and full size in less than 6 days and 9 days, respectively, after the young leaf was unfolded. Therefore, long term study on bean leaf growth and development requires measurement on sequential and multiple leaves. Also, nocturnal relative leaf expansion rate (RLER) was significantly faster than diurnal RLER.