Grain sorghum transpiration efficiency at different growth stages

Thapa S.,, S. and Stewart B.A, B.A. and Xue Q.W., Q.W. (2017) Grain sorghum transpiration efficiency at different growth stages. Plant Soil Environ, 63 (2). pp. 70-75.

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Abstract

Transpiration efficiency (TE) is an important physiological trait associated with drought tolerance of plants. Currently, little is known about the grain sorghum TE and its dynamics with the age of plants. To compare the sorghum TE at different growth stages, four studies (two in the greenhouse and two in the growth chamber) were conducted under controlled environmental conditions. Plants were grown in lid-covered boxes and harvested at six-leaf, flag leaf, grain filling and maturity stages. The mean shoot TE values were 4.47 and 4.10 kg/m3 for two greenhouse studies, and 4.85 and 4.30 kg/m3 for two growth chamber studies, respectively. The shoot TE was not different among four growth stages within each study, suggesting that sorghum plants used the same amount of water per unit of biomass production for different growing periods. Because crops grown under dryland environments often run out of water during reproductive periods, result supports the ideas that soil water availability at later growth stages is crucial to achieve the yield potential of dryland sorghum.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: C4 plant; water stress; shoot to root ratio; Sorghum bicolor; vapour pressure deficit
Author Affiliation: Dryland Agriculture Institute, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, USA Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Amarillo, USA
Subjects: Plant Production
Divisions: Sorghum
Depositing User: Mr T L Gautham
Date Deposited: 21 Jul 2017 03:22
Last Modified: 21 Jul 2017 03:22
URI: http://eprints.icrisat.ac.in/id/eprint/14821

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