Genotypic Variability in Drought Performance and Recovery in Cowpea under Controlled Environment

Anyia, A. O. and Herzog, H. (2004) Genotypic Variability in Drought Performance and Recovery in Cowpea under Controlled Environment. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, 190 (2). pp. 151-159.

[img] PDF - Published Version
Restricted to ICRISAT researchers only

Abstract

Mid-season drought is a factor frequently limiting crop production in the moist to dry savannah zones of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Ten cowpea genotypes were subjected to a cycle of drought at flowering followed by re-watering to study variation in drought performance and recovery. Drought caused a reduction in leaf assimilation rate, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance with genotypic variances of 75.4, 57.9, and 83.3 %, respectively. Only genotypic variance in stomatal conductance increased appreciably under drought. Reductions in leaf water potential as a consequence of drought positively correlated with a decline in assimilation rate, which was associated with stomatal closure. One week after re-watering, the three gas exchange parameters of stressed plants recovered fully and attained values 10–30 % higher than the well-watered plants with increased genotypic variability. Reductions in the total dry matter during the drought interval varied from 11 to 50 % among genotypes, but were of minor importance for the total dry matter at maturity. After stress, the gain in dry matter varied considerably among the stressed genotypes, with stressed plants showing higher gain than the unstressed plants during this interval. This was associated with increased availability of assimilates due to enhanced green leaf area duration after stress release. Variability in drought recovery among genotypes was found, and appears to be more important for final yield than responses during drought.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: The authors are grateful for the financial support of the German academic exchange services (DAAD) and thankful to Roland Hoffmann-Bahnsen and Klau-Peter Goetz for their expert technical support during the experiments.
Uncontrolled Keywords: controlled environment, cowpea, drought recovery, genotypic variance, leaf water potential, stomatal conductance
Author Affiliation: Environmental Technologies, Alberta Research Council, PO Bag 4000, Vegreville, Alberta, Canada T9C 1T4), Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture, Institute of Crop Sciences, Humboldt University Berlin, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 5, 14195, Berlin, Germany
Subjects: Environmental Science
Divisions: Other Crops
Depositing User: Mr Siva Shankar
Date Deposited: 03 May 2012 08:04
Last Modified: 03 May 2012 08:04
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-037X.2004.00096.x
URI: http://eprints.icrisat.ac.in/id/eprint/5072

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item