OAR@ICRISATGroundnut (Arachis hypogaea) genotypes tolerant to intermittent drought maintain a high harvest index and have small leaf canopy under stress PRatnakumarauthorVVadezauthorIntermittent drought, which varies in intensity, severely limits groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) yields. Experiments were conducted to assess root development, water uptake, transpiration efficiency, yield components and their relationships, in 20 groundnut genotypes under well watered (WW), and mild (DS-1), medium (DS-2) and severe (DS-3) intermittent stress. Pod yield decreased 70%, 55% and 35% under severe, medium and mild stress, respectively. Pod yield varied among genotypes, and showed significant genotype-by-treatment effects. Root length density (RLD) varied among genotypes before and after stress, although RLD did not discriminate tolerant from sensitive lines. Total water uptake and RLD under water stress had a weakly significant relationship. Water extraction from the soil profile was highest under severe stress. Water uptake varied among genotypes in all water regimes, but correlated with pod yield under WW conditions. The relative harvest index (HI) (i.e. the ratio of the HI under stress to HI under WW conditions) was closely related to the pod yield in all three intermittent stresses (R2 = 0.68 in DS-1; R2 = 0.65 in DS-2; R2 = 0.86 in DS-3) and was used as an index of stress tolerance. Under medium and severe stresses, the relative HI was negatively related to plant leaf weight (R2 = 0.79 in DS-2; R2 = 0.53 in DS-3), but less so under mild stress (R2 = 0.31). The results suggest that under intermittent stress, genotypes with a lower leaf area may use water more sparingly during the drying cycle with less damaging consequences for reproduction and pod.Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics2011CSIRO PublishingArticle

For work being deposited by its own author: In self-archiving this collection of files and associated bibliographic metadata, I grant OAR@ICRISAT the right to store them and to make them permanently available publicly for free on-line. I declare that this material is my own intellectual property and I understand that OAR@ICRISAT does not assume any responsibility if there is any breach of copyright in distributing these files or metadata. (All authors are urged to prominently assert their copyright on the title page of their work.)

For work being deposited by someone other than its author: I hereby declare that the collection of files and associated bibliographic metadata that I am archiving at OAR@ICRISAT) is in the public domain. If this is not the case, I accept full responsibility for any breach of copyright that distributing these files or metadata may entail.

Clicking on the deposit button indicates your agreement to these terms.