Water deficit tolerance of bean cultivars

Abstract The objective of this work was to evaluate the response of the Garapiá, Triunfo, and BRS-FC104 bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) cultivars to the water deficit represented by the fraction of transpirable soil water (FTSW). The experimental design was completely randomized in a 3×2 bifactorial arrangement (cultivars × irrigation and no irrigation). Transpiration, growth, and yield were evaluated in the crop season and off-season. In the crop season, with a low atmospheric air demand (below 15 hPa in 55% of the days), 'Garapiá' presented early stomatal closure with the critical FTSW (FTSWc) of 0.36, but had the same yield as 'Triunfo', whose stomata closed late (FTSWc = 0.23). In the off-season, with a high atmospheric air demand (greater than 15 hPa in 83.3% of the days), 'Garapiá' presented an early stomatal closure (FTSWc = 0.17) and a higher yield (392.2 kg ha-1 more than 'Triunfo'). In the crop season and off-season, 'Garapiá' showed tolerance to water deficit in the reproductive period. Water deficit resulted in lower values of height, shoot dry mass, root dry mass, and leaf area. Both 'Garapiá' and 'Triunfo' showed a high yield in the crop season, but only 'Garapiá' in the off-season. 'Garapiá' presents tolerance to water deficit, with efficient stomatal control and high growth and yield.