Legume Production and Irrigation Strategies in the Aral Sea Basin:

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Legume Production and Irrigation Strategies in
the Aral Sea Basin
Yield, Yield components, and Water Relations of
Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and Green Gram
(Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek)

• Maryse Bourgault, Chandra A. Madramootoo, Heidi
  A. Webber, Mikhail G. Horst, Galina Stulina,
  Donald L. Smith
• WASAMED Conference
• Bari, Italy, February 15th, 2007

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1964
1987
2003 NASA
1997
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Social Consequences

• Waterlogging and salinization
• Pollution of environment
• Collapse of fisheries and economy
• Loss of biodiversity
• Health Problems

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Main Objective

• Evaluate two water saving techniques on two
  legume crops (common bean and green gram)
• alternate furrow irrigation
• deficit irrigation

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Water Treatments

• Alternate Furrow irrigation
• 25 reduction in water use
• Deficit irrigation
• when water not land is limiting
• maximizing return of water or water productivity

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Jan Feb Mar Avr May Jun July
Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Jan Feb Mar Avr May Jun July
Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

• LEGUME CROPS
• Common Bean large-seeded pulse crop
• Green Gram also known as mungbean, small-seeded
  crop
• Fit well after the harvest of winter wheat in the
  cotton-winter wheat rotation in Uzbekistan

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Experimental Design

• Split-plot design with depletion levels as main
  treatments
• Data yield, yield components number of seeds
  per pod, 100-seed weight, number of pods per
  plant, harvest index, water potential before and
  after irrigation events, and stomatal conductance
  before and after irrigation events.

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Results
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Yield
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Number of Seeds per Pod
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Number of Pods per Plant
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Harvest Index
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Stomatal Conductance
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Leaf Water Potential
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Alternate Furrow vs Conventional Every Furrow
Irrigation
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Alternate Furrow vs Conventional Every Furrow
Irrigation
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Interesting Points

• The maximum yield in green gram is achieved in
  the moderate stress (2003) and severe stress
  (2004) treatments
• The reduction in yield in common bean in both
  years is not significant between the recommended
  irrigation schedule and the moderate stress
  level, indicating that some level of stress can
  be tolerated without affecting yields.
• Green gram increased tolerance could be due to
  lower stomatal conductance regardless of water
  availability, but not due to osmotic ajustment

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Conclusions

• Water savings due to alternate furrow and deficit
  irrigation can be achieved without significantly
  reducing yields
• Green gram is more drought tolerant, but this is
  not fully explained by water relations such as
  stomatal conductance or osmotic potential
• Legume production is possible in the Aral Sea
  basin and could be done with little water

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Thank you

• Thank you
• Brace Center and CIDA for financial assistance
• Prof. Don Smith
• Prof. Philippe Seguin
• Prof. Chandra A. Madramootoo
• Heidi Webber
• Staff at the SANIIRI institute in
• Tashkent, and all the field staff
• in Uzbekistan
• My colleagues in the Plant Physiology Lab