Response of four grain legumes to water stress in south-eastern Queensland. II.Plant growth and soil water extraction patterns

Abstract

Growth and water use of soybean (Glycine max), black gram (Vigna mungo), green gram (V. radiata) and cowpea (V. unguiculata) in response to water stress were evaluated in the field at Dalby in southeast Queensland. Differing strategies of growth and water use which reflected the differential expression of dehydration avoidance and developmental plasticity in response to stress were identified among species. The primary difference between strategies related to differences in dehydration avoidance. Soil water extraction during the initial phases of drought was faster, and leaf area development and plant growth were relatively less affected, in soybean than in the Vigna spp. Where adequate soil water existed, these differences were sustained during the drought period but were reversed where soil water was limited. Soil water extraction by soybean occurred to greater depths, and to lower potentials, than in the Vigna spp. Developmental plasticity influenced growth pattern in the Vigna spp. to varying degrees. Drought periods invariably curtailed growth and hastened maturity in green gram and black gram, but rain prior to maturity induced renewed growth in black gram. Moderate stress curtailed growth and hastened maturity in cowpea, which also responded to late rains with renewed growth. Severe stress inhibited growth and delayed development in cowpea indefinitely.