Physiological response of commercial cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris in a medium washed brown soil

Abstract

In common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), complex interactions occur between the genotype and climatic, edaphic and biotic factors, for which it is necessary to study the response of the different cultivars. The objective of the study was to characterize the physiological response of four commercial cultivars in slightly leeched brownish greys soils and its intermediate sowing season. The experiments were carried out at the “Valle del Yabú” Agricultural Company in the municipality of Santa Clara, Villa Clara. Basic seeds of the commercial cultivars of common bean was used: ‘Cuba C 25-9-R’, ‘Delicias-364’, ‘CUFIG-110’, ‘CIAP-24’. Seven evaluations were carried out during the 70-day crop cycle, at 10-day intervals, considering the following physiological indicators: dry mass, leaf area, absolute growth rate, net assimilation rate, leaf area ratio and harvest index. All the variables evaluated in the cultivar ‘Cuba C 25-9-R’ reached significantly higher values than the rest of the cultivars. The dry mass, the leaf area and the ratio of leaf area per plant showed rapid growth from 10 to 40 days after germination, at which point their values began to decrease until reaching physiological maturity. The absolute growth rate showed an increase of 30-40 days after germination, at which point it portrayed negative values, while the Net Assimilation Rate in the same period showed a tendency to decrease. All the cultivars presented a high harvest index and agricultural yield, reaching the highest value ‘Cuba C 25-9-R’.

Keywords

• leaf area
• common bean
• harvest index
• absolute growth rate
• net assimilation rate