Moderate water stress impact on yield components of green-house tomatoes in relation to plant water status

The scarcity of water resources affects tomato production. Deficit irrigation may optimize water management with only a low reduction in yield. Deficit irrigation scheduling based on applied water presented no clear conclusions. Water stress management based on plant water status, such as water pote...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Martín Palomo, María José, Alomari-Mheidat, Munia, Corell González, Mireia, Castro Valdecantos, Pedro, Medina-Zurita, Noemí, L de Sosa, Laura, Moriana Elvira, Alfonso
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/153042
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/153042
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13010128
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Deficit irrigation, leaf water potential, stress integral, water stress, water relations
Descripción
Sumario:The scarcity of water resources affects tomato production. Deficit irrigation may optimize water management with only a low reduction in yield. Deficit irrigation scheduling based on applied water presented no clear conclusions. Water stress management based on plant water status, such as water potential, could improve the scheduling. The aim of this work was to evaluate the physiological and yield responses of different tomato cultivars to deficit irrigation. Three experiments were carried out in 2020 and 2022 at the University of Seville (Spain). “Cherry” and “chocolate Marmande” cultivars with an indeterminate growth pattern were grown in a greenhouse. Treatments were: Control (full irrigated) and Deficit. Deficit plants were irrigated based on water potential measurements. Moderate water stress did not significantly reduce the yield, although it affected other processes. Fruit size and total soluble solids were the most sensitive parameters to water stress. The latter increased only when persistent water stress was applied. However, truss development and fruit number were not affected by the level of water stress imposed. Such results suggest that moderate water stress, even in sensitive phenological stages such as flowering, would not reduce yield. Deficit irrigation scheduling based on plant water status will allow accurate management of water stress.