Growth and yield of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) cultivars under water Deficit at different growth stages

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1 LR-384 [-8] Legume Research, Print ISSN: / Online ISSN: AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION CENTRE Growth and yield of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) cultivars under water Deficit at different growth stages Magdi A.A. Mousa,2 and Adel D. Al Qurashi Department of Arid Land Agriculture, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Received: Accepted: DOI: /LR-384 ABSTRACT A field experiment was conducted in 203 and 204 at the Agriculture Experimental Station of King Abdulaziz University to study the effects of water deficit treatments at different growth stages on growth, yield and IWUE on cowpea cultivars. Four water deficit treatments were applied T0 (no water deficit), T (at vegetative stage), T2 (at flowering and pod setting), T3 (at pod filling), T4 (at vegetative and flowering) and T5 (at flowering and pod filling). The cultivars Balady under water deficit T, and Cream7 under T and produced the highest yield component parameters except number of pods/plant. The highest yield of dry seeds kg/ha was produced by the cultivars Cream7 under water deficit T and and Balady under. Cream7 and Balady revealed the highest irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) under water deficit T,. High seed yield of Balady and Cream7 can be obtained by applying water deficit at vegetative stage (T). Key words: Cowpea, Growth, Irrigation water use efficiency, Water deficit, Yield. INTRODUCTION Water deficit was reported to be a major constraint to food production due to the losses of crops growth, yield and quality and the restriction of spread cultivation of crops and use of land previously uncultivated Mousa et al. 203; Sousa et al., 205; Ramachandiran and Pazhanivelan, 206). Plant tolerance to water deficit is the ability to survive and preserve growth under water deficit. The tolerant/resistant plants utilize different mechanisms to grow and develop under the stresses of water deficit. For instance some plants tend to finish their life cycle as fast as the occurrence of water deficit. The other tolerant plants have the ability to conserve available water (maintain growth by retaining water content) through the reduction of water loss. These types of plants reducing their leaf sizes, number of stomatal pore and stomatal conductance under the water deficit (Faloye and Alatise, 205; Afzal and Ramesh, 205). Another type of tolerance mechanism to water deficit is increasing water use efficiency (water productivity) of limited available water (El- Nakhlawy et al., 207; Mousa et al., 204). Utilizing these mechanisms in breeding program as indicators for water deficit tolerances was reported to be effective tools to improve crops tolerance (Ram et al., 206). Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) is grown in arid and semi-arid regions of the world where it is considered as the most drought-tolerant food legumes. The economic importance of cowpea are high protein content of the seeds (20% to 40%), N fixed biologically ranged from 73 to 354 kg N/ha per year, and the consumption of its foliage and fresh and dry grain (Kamara et al., 207). It has been observed that there was a significant difference among cowpea genotypes with regard water deficit tolerance at the vegetative, flowering and pods filling stages (Ahmed and Suliman, 200). Plant leaves are the most affected plant aspects by water deficit including leaf expansion, leaf area per plant and leaf production and promotes senescence and abscission (Ram et al., 206). The present investigation aimed to study growth, yield and irrigation water use efficiency of three cowpea cultivars grown under stresses of different water deficit treatments. MATERIALS AND METHODS Experimental site and climate: The field experiment was conducted in 203 and 204 cropping seasons at the Agriculture Research Station of King Abdulaziz University (KAU), KSA. The soil texture of the experimental site was classified as sandy loam, soil ph 7.8 unit and EC.79 dsm -. The dominant climate of the area is arid, with high temperatures and long photoperiods during summer season (Table ). Plant materials: Three cowpea cultivars of different genetic backgrounds were tested under different water deficit treatments. The cultivars were Vigna unquculata cv Balady *Corresponding author s m_a_ahmed@yahoo.com Department of Arid Land Agriculture, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 2 Department of Vegetables, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, 7526 Assiut, Egypt

2 2 LEGUME RESEARCH An International Journal Table : Metrological data recorded from Hada Alsham Meteorology Station during the time of experiment. Year /Month Min. temp.(cº) Max. temp. (Cº) Mean Min. Rh. (%) Max. Rh. (%) Mean Season 203 February March April May June Season 204 February March April May June Year/Month Min. wind speed Max. wind speed Mean wind speed Sunshine (h) Total Rain Full (km/h) (km/h) (km/h) (mm) Season 203 February March April May June Season 204 February March April May June Meteorological Station at Hada Al-sham ((Excellency Centre and Vigna unquculata cv Cream 7 (obtained from local market in Jeddah), and Vigna unquculata cv TVu 9443 (with seed black eye) obtained from International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Oya State, Nigeria. Drip irrigation Systems: The crop was grown using surface drip irrigation systems. The distance between the dripper lines was 00 cm and the distance between drippers was 45 cm. The type of the dripper lines was RAIN BIRD LD Landscape drip 0.9 G/h from the irrigation accessories market in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia). The downstream end of each dripper line was connected to a manifold for convenient flushing. Inlet pressure on each tape was about.5 bars. The system uses 25 micron disk filter. The water source was from 6 containers always full of water via main irrigation network installed in the location. Planting of cowpea Seeds: Seeds of the tested cultivars were planted in 5 September 203 and 204 at the. A spacing of 45 cm was adopted for plant to plant distance with a row spacing 00 cm. A PSM (Power Saving Mode) timer was programmed to supply irrigation water for a period of 0 minutes twice a day (at 7:00 am and 6:00 pm) until seeds germination. The supplied irrigation water was extended gradually along the growing season to cover the required amount of water for cowpea. The plants were fertigated by the recommended dose of 20:20:20 N-P-K combined fertilizer, which divided into 6 equal doses and injected with irrigation water. Water deficit treatments:the following water deficit treatments were applied after 25 days of sowing: : (control treatment, plants provide by full water requirements) T : (water deficit at vegetative stage) : (Water deficit at flowering/pods setting stage) : (Water deficit at pods filling stage) : (Water deficit at vegetative and flowering /pods setting stages) T5: (Water deficit at flowering /pods setting and pods filling stages) Calculated water requirements: The required irrigation water was calculated based on crop water requirement (Evapotranspiration) and total available soil moisture. Evapotranspiration was calculated from reference evapotranspiration and crop coefficient as follows: ETc = Kc ET0 Where: ETc: crop evapotranspiration (mm/day) ET0 : Reference evapotranspiration (mm/day) Kc : Crop Coefficient. Reference evapotranspiration were calculated using Penman-monteith equation as described by Allen et al., (998). Also, crop coefficient values listed by Allen et al., (998) for cowpea crop were used. The calculated water requirements are presented in (Table 2). Calculated water requirements of cowpea which tabulated in (Table 2) was

3 Vol. Issue, () Table 2: Calculated crop coefficient at 00% of field capacity and the calculated value of crop evapotranspiration at the three levels of water deficit along the growing season of cowpea. Duration Crop growth Crop coefficient ETcmm/day ETcmm/dec Eff rainmm/dec Irr. Req. stages at 00% F.C (Kc) mm/dec Feb Initial Feb Initial Feb Development Mar Development Mar Development Mar Middle Apr Middle Apr Middle Apr Late May Late May Late Total manually applied in the field from drip irrigation network for the required irrigation time calculated from the dripper discharge, the distance between drippers, and number of drip lines as follows:- Drip line discharge = 2. l/h X 33 dripper = 70 l/h. Discharge of drip lines of each crop for each treatments = 70 X 6 = 420 l/h. Discharge (mm/h) = (0.420 m3/ 37.5 m)*000 = 9.33 mm/h = 0.5 mm/min Total irrigation time /day = calculated water requirement per day/ discharge (mm). The required irrigation time (min/day) and average water supply (m 3 /h) for fully and stress treatment during the whole growing season tabulated in (Table 3). Measurements: The following growth, yield components and yield parameters were assessed: plant height (cm), number of branches/plant, days to flowering, number of pods/ plant, number of seeds/pod, weight of seeds/plant (g), weight of 00 seeds (g), yield of dry seeds (kg/ha). The irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE kg mm - ha - ) was estimated by dividing yield by depth of water applied in mm - (Ismail and Magdi, 204). Table 3: Average irrigation time min/day and average water supply (m 3 /ha)for fully and stress treatments during the growing seasons. Duration Average irrigation time(min/day) T0 T T2 T3 T4 T5 Feb Feb Feb Mar Mar Mar Apr Apr Apr May May Duration Crop growth stages Average water supply (m 3 /ha) T0 T T2 T3 T4 T5 Feb Initial Feb Initial Feb Development Mar Development Mar Development Mar Middle Apr Middle Apr Middle Apr Late May Late May Late Total (m 3 /ha)

4 4 LEGUME RESEARCH An International Journal Experimental design and data analysis: The field experiment was laid out in split plot design and the treatments were distributed over plots following the randomized complete block design (RCBD) using 3 replicates. The water deficit treatments were distributed over the main plots, while the cultivars were in the sub plots. Analysis of variance was conducted using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) program (ver. 9.00, SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). The treatment means were compared by F-test and the Least Significant Differences test (LSD) at 5% probability level Gomez and Gomez, (984). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Growth parameters: The results revealed that watering the crop with full water requirement ( ), reduce water requirements during vegetative (T ) and at flowering/pods setting ( ) stages enhanced plant heights of the cultivar TVu9443 in both seasons (Table 4). Shortest plants were observed for Cream7 under water deficit treatments (65.9cm) and (65.2cm). Maximum number of branches/ plant was produced by TVu9443 under water deficit treatment T (.50 cm and 0.cmin in 203 and 204, respectively). Applying water deficit at flowering and pod filling stages ( ) result extreme reduction in number of branches/plant for Cream 7 (5.07 in 203 and 3.00 in 204). Early flowering was observed for plants of TVu3399, Cream7 and Balady under water deficit treatment in both seasons. Plants of Cream 7 delayed to flower under, T. Delay flowering was observed also for Balady Table 4: Effects of water deficit treatments at different growth stages on growth of three cowpea cultivars: plant height (cm), number of branches at maturity and days to flowering. Water deficit Plant height(cm) No. Branches/plant Days to flowering TVu9443 Cream7 Balady 2 Mean TVu944 Cream7 Balady Mean TVu944 Cream7 Balady Mean a b b T a a b a b b a b a b c a b c c Mean (cvs.)69.59a 89.7c 03.8b 7.8a 7.60a 6.4b 6.8b 63.80a 64.02a ) cowpea cultivars (cvs) = = = ) Water deficit treatments (WDT) = = =.93 ) ( cvs*wdt) = =.726 = a b c T b a c b b c a b b c c a c c d Mean (cvs.)69.83a 92.35c 5.38b 5.42a 5.58a 4.64b 58.7b 60.83a 6.33a ) cowpea cultivars (cvs) = 0.599= 0.70 = ) Water deficit treatments (WDT) = = =.28 ) ( cvs*wdt) = =.732 = obtained from the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria, 2 obtained from the seeds market in Makkah regions, Saudi Arabia. with water deficit treatments, in both seasons (Table 4). Hsiao and Acevedo, (974) reported that two important factors control the effect of water deficit on cowpea growth and yield, the level of water stress and the development stage at which the stress occurs). We observed that the most sensitive growth stages of cowpea to water deficit were vegetative and pod filling ( ) and flowering and pod filling stage ( ). Ong, (984) found that applying water deficit at flowering and pod filling stages significantly affected growth and yield of cowpea. Yield and yield attributes: Highest number of harvested pods/plants was produced by TVu9443 under water deficit T in 203 (95.50) and 204 (99.03). However, subjecting TVn9443 plants to water deficit treatments and caused extreme reduction in number of harvested pods/plant (Table 5). Reduced number of pods/plant was observed for Cream7 under water deficit treatment (28.42 in 203 and 3.50 in 204). Aboamera, (200) observed significant reduction in number of pods/plant under stresses of water deficit. Ahmed and Suliman, (200) found that number of harvested pods/ plant was reduced by 34.44% and 4.89% under water stress at reproductive stage and at vegetative and reproductive stage, respectively. Seeds per pod of Balady were increased under stresses of water deficit during vegetative stage (T ) in 203 (0.49 seeds/pod) and with full water requirements ( ) in 204 (0.0 seeds/pod) (Table 6). Moreover, increased number of seeds/pods was observed for Balady with, Cream7 with, T and, TVu9443 with

5 Vol. Issue, () Table 5: Effects of water deficit treatments at different growth stages of three cowpea cultivars on no of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod and yield of dry seeds/plant (kg). Water No. of pods/plant No. seeds/pod Yield of dry seeds/plant (kg) deficit TVu9443 Cream7 Balady 2 Mean TVu944 Cream7 Balady Mean TVu944 Cream7 Balady Mean c ba b T a a a b c c b ba b d bc d d c e Mean (cvs.) 45.83b 47.70ab 5.5a 8.3a 8.34a 8.74a 34.59c 47.90b 56.79a ) cowpea cultivars (cvs) = = NS = ) Water deficit treatments (WDT) = =.06 = 5.78 ) ( cvs*wdt) = =.430 = c a b T a ba a b c c b a b d bc d d bc d Mean (cvs.) 49.08b 50.73ab 54.23a 7.65ba 7.60b 7.92a 39.63c 53.00b 6.69a ) cowpea cultivars (cvs) = = = ) Water deficit treatments (WDT) = 7.83 = = ) ( cvs*wdt) =.224 =.92 = 0.03 obtained from the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria, 2 obtained from the seeds market in Makkah regions, Saudi Arabia. Table 6: Effects of water deficit treatments at different growth Table 6: Effects of water deficit treatments at different growth stages on yield and its components of three cowpea cultivars: weight of 00 seeds (g) and total yield of dry seeds(kg/ha). Water Weight of 00 seeds (g) Total yield of dry seeds(kg/ha) deficit Cowpea cultivars Mean WDT Cowpea cultivars Mean WDT TVu9443 Cream7 Balady 2 TVu9443 Cream7 Balady Cropping season b b T a a b b b a c b b c Mean (cvs.) 6.47a 5.70b 5.89b b b a ) cultivar (cvs) = = ) Water deficit (WDT) = = 2.68 ) ( cvs*wdt) = = Cropping season b b T a a cb b cb a c b cb c Mean (cvs.).8a.43b.49b b b a ) Cowpea cultivar (cvs)= = ) Water deficit treatments (WDT)= 0.39 = ) ( cvs*wdt) = 0.79 y= obtained from the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria, 2 obtained from the seeds market in Makkah regions, Saudi Arabia.

6 6 LEGUME RESEARCH An International Journal in both seasons. Seeds per pod were significantly reduced for Cream7 under water deficit (6.77 and 6.30 in 203 and 204, respectively). The cultivar TVu9443 produced lower number of seeds/pod with and in both seasons (Table 5). Ahmed and Suliman, (200) found that number of seeds/pods was reduced from 0.7 under full water requirements to 7.7 under water deficit at vegetative and reproductive stage. Highest yield of dry seeds/plant was observed for Balady with and T in 203 and 204. Reducing water supply at flowering/pods setting and at pods filling stages ( ) and at vegetative and pods filling stages ( ) result the least yield of dry seed/plant of the cultivars TVu9443, Balady and Cream7 in both cropping seasons (Table 5). Weight of 00 seeds (g) was extremely increased when TVu9443 plants received water deficit at vegetative growth (T ) (8.50g and 3.57g in 203 and 204, respectively). The smallest seeds were produced by Cream7 under water deficit in both seasons (Table 6). The cultivar Cream 7 produced higher yield of dry seeds under water deficit with kg/ha (in 203) and in 204 under water deficit T with ( kg/ha). Moreover, higher yield of dry seeds was produced by Balady under water deficit with kg/ha in 203 and kg/ha in 204. The minimum yield of dry seeds was observed for Cream7 under water deficit T5 in 203 (58.87 kg/ha) and 204 (20.60 kg/ha) (Table 6). The high performance Balady with regard yield and yield attributes as compared to other tested cultivars may be due to extensive use of Balady by Saudi framers in Western regions of Saudi Arabia, which increased the cultivar adaptability to dominant environment including soil, irrigation water and climate. The low seed yield of TVu9443 attributed to cultivar sensitivity to water deficit which caused lower number of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod and weight of seeds/plant. Genotypic differences of cowpea under drought stresses during different growth stages were reported by Ahmed and Suliman, (200) and Aboamera, (200). Applying water deficit at vegetative stage (T ) significantly increased yield and yield attribute of tested cultivars. This may be attributed to decreased evaporation, reduction of rate of leaf expansion and increased water-use efficiency as compared to other water deficit treatments (Ziska and Hall, 983). Applying water deficit at Fig-: Irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE kg/m 3 ) as affected by interaction between applied water deficit treatments and cowpea cultivars: a) season 203 and b) season 204

7 two subsequent growth stages and significantly reduced growth, yield components and yield of cowpea plants. The extended period of drought treatments increased evaporation and decreased water use efficiency resulted in losses of yield attributes and yield. It was reported that flowering and bud filling stages were the most sensitive to water deficit. Aboamera, (200) observed a reduction percentage of 40.8 in dry seed yield under field capacity of 60%. Warrag and Hall (984) reported that yield reduction was reported to be from 35 to 69 % depending on growth stage and duration of water deficit. Irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE (kg mm - ha - ): Highly significant interaction between water deficit treatments and tested cultivar was observed (Fig A and B). The cultivar Balady expressed high IWUS under T, in both seasons. In addition, Cream7 revealed high IWUE under T in 203 (0.5 kg/mm -/ ha - ) and 204 (0.370 kg/mm -/ ha - ). Strength reduction in IWUE was observed for TVu9443 and Cream7 under, and in both cropping seasons (Fig. A and B). The high IWUE (kg mm - ha - ) of Balady reflected the capability of the cultivar to grow and produce yield under applied water deficit treatments. These findings can be attributed to shorter plants with lower number of branches and high yield and yield attributes of Balady as compared to Cream7 and TVu9443. These results were in line with that observed by Hall, (202) and Gwathmey and Hall, (992). Applying water deficit at vegetative stage (T ) and at flowering/pod setting stage ( ) increased Vol. Issue, () significantly IWUE of tested cultivars. Extreme reduction in IWUE was observed under, and. This reduction can be attributed to the sensitivity of the reproductive stages of cowpea including flowering and pod setting ( ) and pod filling (, and ) stages to the water deficit. Ahmed and Suliman, (200) reported that the most sensitive plant growth stages to drought effects were the reproductive stages including flowering, pod setting and pod filling. Aboamera, (200) found that water deficit at vegetative stage revealed the least negative effects on flowering, yield component and yield. CONCULSION Good dry seeds yield of cowpea can be obtained under water deficit at vegetative stage for 20 days and 0 min irrigation/day. Genetic variability was observed under water stress for growth and yield. Adaptability of the local cultivar Balady to dominant environments of western region of Saudi Arabia enhanced water use efficiency, growth and yield under water stress. Subjecting cowpea to water stress twice each of 20 days for 0 min/day at vegetative and pod filling and flowering and pod filling caused detrimental effects on cowpea growth and seeds yield. 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