Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T18:55:28.382Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Adaptation of Lentil to the Mediterranean Environment. II. Response to Moisture Supply

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

S. N. Silim
Affiliation:
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
M. C. Saxena
Affiliation:
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
W. Erskine
Affiliation:
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria

Summary

Lentil is generally grown as a rainfed crop in areas of West Asia and North Africa where rainfall is highly variable. This study aimed to measure genetic responses to variation in moisture supply in the yield of seed and straw, evapotranspiration and water use efficiency, to guide the lentil breeding programme. The response of 25 diverse lentil lines to a soil water gradient was studied in 1987/88 and 1988/89 at Breda, northern Syria, using a line-source sprinkler system. The coefficient of determination between rainfed and irrigated seed yield in the dry 1988/89 season was r2 = 0.26, and the genotypes that were well adapted to dry conditions were different from those well adapted to wet conditions. However, there were also widely adapted genotypes that yielded well under both wet and dry conditions. The selection of such genotypes might be appropriate for the region receiving 300–400 mm annual rainfall, in contrast with the approach to selection suggested for drier areas (less than 300 mm annual rainfall) in a companion article. Soil moisture extraction from the time of maximum profile recharge to maturity in 1987/88 and cumulative crop evapotranspiration in the 1987/88 rainfed crop did not differ among lentil lines. In the irrigated treatment, however, evapotranspiration in the medium to late maturing lines exceeded that in the early maturing lines towards maturity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ceccarelli, S. (1989). Wide adaptation: How wide? Euphytica 40:197205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, P. J. M., Gregory, P. J., Tully, D. & Harris, H. C. (1987). Improving water use efficiency of annual crops in the rainfed farming systems of West Asia and North Africa. Experimental Agriculture 23:113158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erskine, W. (1985). The relationship between the yields of seed and straw for lentil. Field Crops Research 7:115121.Google Scholar
Gomez, K. A. & Gomez, A. A. (1984). Statistical Procedures for Agricultural Research, 372379. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Harris, H. C. (1979). Some aspects of the agroclimatology of West Asia and North Africa. In Food Legume Improvement and Development, 714 (Eds Hawtin, G. C. and Chancellor, G. J.). Ottawa: International Development Research Center; Aleppo: International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas.Google Scholar
ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) (1989). Meteorological Reports for IGARDA Experiment Stations in Syria: 1987/88 Season. Aleppo, Syria: ICARDA.Google Scholar
Khayrallah, W. A. (1981). The mechanization of lentil harvest. In Lentils, 131141 (Eds Webb, C. and Hawtin, G.). Slough: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux (CAB).Google Scholar
Ludlow, M. M. & Muchow, R. C. (1988). Critical evaluation of the possibilities for modifying crops for high production per unit precipitation. In Drought Research Priorities for Dryland Tropics, 179211 (Eds Bidinger, F. R. and Johansen, C.). Patancheru, AP: International Crops Research Institute for SemiArid Tropics (ICRISAT).Google Scholar
Osmanzai, M., Rajaram, S. & Knapp, E. B. (1987). Breeding for moisture-stressed areas. In Drought Tolerance in Winter Cereals, 151161 (Eds Srivastava, J. P., Porceddu, E., Acevedo, E. and Varma, S.). Salisbury: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Silim, S. N., Saxena, M. C. & Erskine, W. (1993). Adaptation of lentil to the Mediterranean environment. I. Factors affecting yield under rainfed conditions. Experimental Agriculture 29:919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tully, D. (1984). Land use and farmer strategies in Al Bab: the feasibility of forage legumes in the place of fallow. Research Report No. 13. Aleppo: International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).Google Scholar