Differential effects of soil water deficit on the basic plant functions and their significance to analyse crop responses to water deficit in indeterminate plants
Jacques WeryUMR System (Agro.M-Cirad-Inra), batiment 27, 2 place Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 2, France. Email: wery@ensam.inra.fr
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 56(11) 1201-1209 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR05066
Submitted: 7 March 2005 Accepted: 31 August 2005 Published: 29 November 2005
Abstract
On the basis of a large set of experiments conducted on legumes, cotton, and vineyards, we propose a framework to analyse the functioning of an indeterminate crop in response to soil water deficit. Indicators of basic plant functions (e.g. leaf carbon exchange rate as an indicator of production of assimilates) have been correlated with soil water status in the root zone (quantified with the fraction of transpirable soil water, FTSW), across a range of soil water deficit. Leaf area development was the most sensitive process to soil water deficits, with branching being more sensitive than leaf emission and growth on the main stem. Net carbon exchange rate and the various steps of reproductive development were less sensitive to drought, thereby explaining why grain/fruit yield can be increased by a moderate drought in indeterminate plants. Other traits of plant adaptation to drought at the crop level, such as reduction of flowering duration and increase of harvest index (in case of early drought), can be explained by the observed differential effects of soil dehydration on the various plant functions. These results have been used to develop regulated deficit irrigation strategies using tensiometers and tools for in-field diagnosis, especially for seed production and grape production.
Additional keywords: legumes, vineyards, cotton, grain yield, regulated deficit irrigation.
Acknowledgments
This paper is based on a large set of experiments (published and unpublished) conducted by Master and PhD students whom I had the pleasure of supervising between 1984 and 2003, especially C. Bissuel-Belaygue, L. Guilioni, A. Pellegrino, J. N. Lacap, and J. Lecoeur. Detailed corrections and comments by one of the reviewers were very useful in revision of this manuscript.
Beck DP,
Wery J,
Saxena MC, Ayadi A
(1991) Dinitrogen fixation and nitrogen balance in cool season food legumes. Agronomy Journal 83, 334–341.
Belaygue C,
Wery J,
Cowan AA, Tardieu F
(1996) Contribution of leaf expansion, rate of leaf appearance and stolon branching to growth of plant leaf area under water deficit in white clover. Crop Science 36, 1240–1246.
Bissuel-Belaygue C,
Cowan AA,
Marshall AH, Wery J
(2002a) Reproductive develoment of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) is not impaired by a moderate water deficit that reduces vegetative growth. I. Inflorescence, floret and ovule production. Crop Science 42, 406–414.
Bissuel-Belaygue C,
Cowan AA,
Marshall AH, Wery J
(2002b) Reproductive development of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) is not impaired by a moderate water deficit that reduces vegetative growth. II. Fertilization efficiency and seed set. Crop Science 42, 414–422.
Brisson N, Wery J, Boote K
(2006) An overview of the fundamental concepts of crop models by a comparative approach. ‘Working with crop models: evaluating, analyzing, parameterizing and using them’. (Eds D Wallach, D Makowski, JW Jones)
(Elsevier: Amsterdam) (In Press)
Cuny H,
Wery J, Gaufres F
(1998) A simple indicator for diagnosing nitrate leaching risk under the root zone using the tensionic-tensiometers. Agronomie 18, 521–535.
Danyach-Deschamps M, Wery J
(1988) Effect of drought stress and mineral nitrogen supply on growth and seed yield of white clover in Mediterranean conditions. Journal of Applied Seed Production 6, 14–19.
Davies WJ, Hartung W
(2004) Has extrapolation from biochemistry to crop functioning worked to sustain plant production under water scarcity? ‘New directions for a diverse planet. Proceedings for the 4th International Crop Science Congress’. 26 September–1 October 2004, Brisbane, Australia. (Ed. RA Fischer )
(The Regional Institute Ltd: Gosford, NSW)
www.regional.org.au/au/cs/2004/symposia/1/3/1914_davieswj.htm
Deschamps M, Wery J
(1987) Effet de l’eau et de l’azote sur la croissance et la nutrition azotée du pois et du pois chiche. ‘Nutrition azotée des légumineuses’. Les Colloques de l’INRA no. 37. pp. 271–280. (INRA Editions: Paris)
French RJ, Turner NC
(1991) Water deficits change dry matter partitioning and seed yield in narrow-leafed lupins (Lupinus angustifolius L.). Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 42, 471–484.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gregory PJ, Wery J, Herridge DF, Bowden W, Fettel N
(2000) Nitrogen nutrition of legume crops and interaction with water. ‘Linking research and marketing opportunities for pulses in the 21st Century’. (Ed. R Knight)
pp. 335–346. (Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht, The Netherlands)
Guilioni L,
Wery J, Lecoeur J
(2003) High temperature and water deficit may reduce seed number in field pea purely by decreasing plant growth rate. Functional Plant Biology 30, 1151–1164.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Guilioni L,
Wery J, Tardieu F
(1997) Heat-stress induced abortion of buds and flowers in pea: is sensitivity linked to organ age or to relations between reproductive organs? Annals of Botany 80, 159–168.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Lacape MJ, Wery J
(1998) Use of model-assisted yield frameworks for the analysis of cotton cultivar response to drought. ‘Proceedings of World Cotton Research Conference –2’. 6–12 September 1998, Athens, Greece. (Ed. U Kechagia )
pp. 555–562. (P. Petridis: Athens)
Lacape MJ,
Wery J, Annerose DJM
(1998a) Relationships between plant and soil water status in five field-grown cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars. Field Crops Research 57, 29–43.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Lacape MJ, Wery J, Annerose DJM, Jallas E
(1998) Analysis of cotton genotypic differences for plant response to drought. ‘Proceedings of the Beltwide Cotton Conference’. Vol. 2. (Ed. JM Brown )
pp. 1383–1392. (National Cotton Council: Memphis, TN)
Lecoeur J, Guilioni L
(1998) Rate of leaf production in response to soil water deficit in field peas. Field Crops Research 57, 319–328.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Lecoeur J, Sinclair TR
(1996) Field pea transpiration and leaf growth in response to soil water deficits. Crop Science 36, 331–335.
Lecoeur J,
Wery J, Sinclair TR
(1996) Model of leaf area expansion on field pea (Pisum sativum) plants subjected to soil water deficits. Agronomy Journal 88, 467–472.
Lecoeur J,
Wery J, Turc O
(1992) Osmotic adjustment as a mechanism of dehydration postponement in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) leaves. Plant and Soil 144, 177–189.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Lecoeur J,
Wery J,
Turc O, Tardieu F
(1995) Expansion of pea leaves subjected to short water deficit: cell number and cell size are sensitive to stress at different periods of leaf development. Journal of Experimental Botany 46, 1093–1101.
Ney B, Wery J
(1998) How does a grain legume crop work? A simulation model to integrate our knowledge and to solve agronomic problems. ‘Opportunities for high quality, healthy and added-value crops to meet European demands. Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Grain Legumes’. 15–18 November 1998, Valladolid, Spain. (AEP: Paris)
Oweis T, Hachum A
(2004) Water harvesting and supplemental irrigation for improved water productivity of dry farming systems in West Asia and North Africa. ‘New directions for a diverse planet. Proceedings for the 4th International Crop Science Congress’. 26 September–1 October 2004, Brisbane, Australia. (Ed. RA Fischer )
(The Regional Institute Ltd: Gosford, NSW)
www.regional.org.au/au/cs/2004/symposia/1/4/1912_oweist.htm.
Passioura J
(1979) Accountability, philosophy and plant physiology. Search 10, 347–350.
Pellegrino A
(2003) Elaboration d’un outil de diagnostic du stress hydrique utilisable sur la vigne en parcelles agricoles, par couplage d’un modèle de bilan hydrique et d’indicateurs de fonctionnement de la plante. PhD thesis, Agro.M, Montpellier, France.
Pellegrino A,
Gozé E,
Lebon E, Wery J
(2006) A model-based diagnosis tool to evaluate the water stress experienced by grapevine in a network of farmer’s fields. European Journal of Agronomy ,
Pellegrino A,
Lebon E,
Simonneau T, Wery J
(2005) Towards a simple indicator for early diagnosis of water stress in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) based on the differential sensitivities of vegetative growth components. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 11, 306–315.
Pellegrino A,
Lebon E,
Voltz M, Wery J
(2004) Relationships between plant and soil water status in vine (Vitis vinifera L.). Plant and Soil 266, 129–142.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pellegrino A, Wery J, Lebon E
(2002) A water balance model can be used to evaluate the water stress experienced by a crop in farmer’s fields: a case study in vineyards in south-eastern France. ‘Proceedings of the VII ESA Congress’. 15–18 July 2002, Cordoba, Spain. (Ed. FJ Villalobos ,
L Testi )
pp. 313–314. (Junta de Andalucia: Cordoba, Spain)
Sinclair T
(2004) Increasing yield potential of legume crops—similarities and contrasts with cereals. ‘New directions for a diverse planet. Proceedings for the 4th International Crop Science Congress’. 26 September–1 October 2004, Brisbane, Australia. (Ed. RA Fischer )
(The Regional Institute Ltd: Gosford, NSW)
www.regional.org.au/au/cs/2004/symposia/2/8/139_sinclair.htm
Turc O, Wery J, Sao Chan Cheong G
(1990) Drought stress as a tool for the improvement of pea seed production. ‘Proceedings of the European Society of Agronomy Inaugural Congress’. 5–7 December 1990, Paris. (Ed. A Scaife )
(INRA: Paris)
Wakrim-Mezrioui R, Wery J
(1995) Analyse des relations entre état hydrique du sol, rendement en graines et fixation d’azote chez le pois chiche (Cicer arietinum ‘Facteurs limitant la fixation symbiotique de l’azote dans le Bassin Méditerranéen’. Vol. 77,(Ed. JJ Drevon)
pp. 257–267. (INRA Editions: Paris)
Wery J
(1987) Relations entre la nutrition azotée et la production chez les légumineuses. ‘Nutrition azotée des légumineuses’. Les colloques de l’INRA, Vol. 37 pp. 199–223. (INRA Editions: Paris)
Wery J, Deschamps M, Leger-Cresson N
(1988) Influence of some agro-climatic factors and agronomic practices on nitrogen nutrition of chickpea. ‘Nitrogen fixation by legumes in Mediterranean agriculture’. (Eds DP Beck, LA Materon)
pp. 287–301. (ICARDA-Martinus Nijhoff Publishers: Aleppo, Syria)
Wery J,
Turc O, Salsac L
(1986) Relationship between N fixation, N assimilation and growth in a legume (Medicago sativa L.). Plant and Soil 96, 17–29.
