Abstract
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, 13314 Shambat, Sudan *Cell phone: +249912988847 ABSTRACT Previous studies report conflicting results regarding the sensitivity of cowpeas (Vigna ungiculata (L.) Walp.) to growth stage water deficits. A field study was designed to monitor the effects of water deficit imposed at different growth stages on yield and water use of cowpeas and to identify any critical stages of development when cowpea is particularly sensitive to water deficits. The experiment was conducted for two consecutive seasons during 2005/06 and 2006/07, plus a pot experiment in the Demonstration Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture at Shambat, Sudan. Three contrasting cowpea genotypes were used in this study, namely; Ein el Ghazal (an introduced cultivar), Zalingei (local type) and Elobied (local type). The well-watered plants were irrigated at 10 days interval and in the stress treatments water was applied at 20 days interval during the vegetative stage (SV), the reproductive stage (SR) and both stages (CS). The results showed that, the reproductive stage of development is the most sensitive to water deficit in cowpea, causing a reduction in water-use efficiencies and seed yields of at least 50% in all three genotypes. In contrast, the genotypes showed a better ability to recover from stress at vegetative stage. The reduction in seed yield was associated with reductions in number of harvested pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and seed size. Differences between the genotypes were significant and in this regard, the introduced cultivar had better yield and higher water-use efficiency compared to the local types. This study suggests that there is considerable variation between cowpea genotypes in tolerance to water stress, and that maximizing the number of pods and seeds are among the most important traits for maintaining stable and high seed yields under water deficit conditions.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
Reproductive-stage water deficit reduced water-use efficiency by at least 50% across three genotypes.
- Taxon
- cowpea
Vigna unguiculatae0 - Organ / stage
- reproductive stage of developmente0
- Treatment
- water deficite0
- Outcome
- water-use efficienciese0
- Direction
- reductione0
- Value
- at least 50%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the reproductive stage of development is the most sensitive to water deficit in cowpea, causing a reduction in water-use efficiencies and seed yields of at least 50% in all three genotypes”
Claim · model-written summary
Reproductive-stage water deficit reduced seed yield by at least 50% across three genotypes.
- Taxon
- cowpeaVigna unguiculatae0
- Organ / stage
- reproductive stage of developmente0
- Treatment
- water deficite0
- Outcome
- seed yieldse0
- Direction
- reductione0
- Value
- at least 50%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the reproductive stage of development is the most sensitive to water deficit in cowpea, causing a reduction in water-use efficiencies and seed yields of at least 50% in all three genotypes”
Claim · model-written summary
Genotypes recovered better from vegetative-stage stress.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“the genotypes showed a better ability to recover from stress at vegetative stage”
Claim · model-written summary
Seed yield reduction was associated with fewer harvested pods per plant.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“The reduction in seed yield was associated with reductions in number of harvested pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and seed size”
Claim · model-written summary
Seed yield reduction was associated with fewer seeds per pod.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“The reduction in seed yield was associated with reductions in number of harvested pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and seed size”
Claim · model-written summary
Seed yield reduction was associated with smaller seed size.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“The reduction in seed yield was associated with reductions in number of harvested pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and seed size”
Claim · model-written summary
Genotypes differed significantly.
- Outcome
- Differences between the genotypese0
Not reportedTaxonDirection
Verbatim
e0“Differences between the genotypes were significant”
Claim · model-written summary
The introduced cultivar had better yield than local types.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“the introduced cultivar had better yield and higher water-use efficiency compared to the local types”
Claim · model-written summary
The introduced cultivar had higher water-use efficiency than local types.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“the introduced cultivar had better yield and higher water-use efficiency compared to the local types”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors identify pod and seed number as important for stable high yield under water deficit.
- Outcome
- maximizing the number of pods and seedse0
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“maximizing the number of pods and seeds are among the most important traits for maintaining stable and high seed yields under water deficit conditions”
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