Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Effects of water deficit stress on yield, yield components and phenology of canola (Brassica napus L.) at different growth stages

Author(s):

A. BirunAra ¹, F. Shekari ^2*, M.B. Hassanpouraghdam ³, M. B. Khorshidi ⁴, E. Esfandyari ²

Recieved Date: 2011-08-03, Accepted Date: 2011-10-04

Abstract:

Considering the great importance of water deficit stress and its adverse effects on agricultural crops as well as expanding demands for production of plant based oils, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of water deficit stress on canola (Brassica napus L.) during different growth stages. For this, effects of water availability including 30% (L₁), 50% (L₂), 70% (L₃) and 100% (L₄) of available water content (AWC) during three successive growth stages: stem elongation (T₁), onset of flowering (T₂) and silique formation period (T₃) were studied on canola. The results showed that the greatest effect of water deficiency was during flowering period so that increasing water deficit and/or decreasing AWC led to intensified adverse effects on plant. Of yield components, seed number per silique and silique number per plant were negatively affected by water deficit. Meanwhile, low water availability led to an increase in thousand-kernel weight. Phenological studies revealed that low AWC during T₁ and T₂ stages result in lessened node number of main stem. At the same time, water availability had no significant effects on node number of main stem at T₃ stage. Water deficit encountered at T₁ stage of growth had no adverse effect on time needed for onset of flowering. This was explained by decreased growth rate of internodes. During T₂ growth stage, any decrease in AWC went to diminished time course between flowering until silique formation and this in turn arose from rapid flowering and early ripening of siliques. In total, it seems that water deficit treatments and conditions had unsuitable effects on growth potential of canola, and proper management of AWC during different growth stages is a crucial decision making parameter towards attaining the balanced growth and development as well as optimum yield of canola.

Keywords:

Rapeseed, TKW, silique number, node number, growth degree-day, growth stages, Cobra

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2011
Volume: 9
Issue: 3&4
Category: Agriculture
Pages: 506-509

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