The response of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) to timing of irrigation. I. Development and growth

Stirling, C M and Ong, C K and Black, C R (1989) The response of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) to timing of irrigation. I. Development and growth. Journal of Experimental Botany, 40 (219). pp. 1145-1153. ISSN 0022-0957

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Abstract

In controlled-environment greenhouse experiments, a finite quantity of water was applied to 4 groundnut cv. Kadiri stands at different stages of the growing season. Irrigation schedules were broadly divided into 2 periods; sowing to pod initiation and pod initiation to final harvest. Within these periods 2 levels of soil moisture deficit were imposed by withholding or applying limited amounts of irrigation at regular intervals. Shoot DM yields were hardly affected but pod yields were more than 4-fold lower in early- than in late-irrigated stands. Thermal time was used to separate the effects of temp. and water stress on developmental processes. The degree-day requirement for peg initiation was similar in all treatments but late irrigation delayed pod development by about 200 degree days. The effect of timing of irrigation on pod yield operated mainly through its influence on the duration of pod production, which was closely linked to the rate and duration of canopy expansion late in the season. The insensitivity of pod yield to early moisture deficits reflected the extreme plasticity of growth and development in groundnuts, since most processes resumed rates similar to the pre-stress levels in early-irrigated stands once stress was released

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Groundnut, irrigation, growth, development
Subjects:	Mandate crops > Groundnut
Depositing User:	Ms K Syamalamba
Date Deposited:	25 Nov 2011 05:43
Last Modified:	25 Nov 2011 05:43
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/4323
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jxb/40.10.1145
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	University of Nottingham (C.M.S) and the UK Overseas Development Administration (C.K.O)
Acknowledgement:	We thank the University of Nottingham (C.M.S) and the UK Overseas Development Administration (C.K.O) for financial support, ICRISAT for providing seeds and our colleagues for environmental control
Links:	Author

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