Transpiração e crescimento foliar de clones de batata e de mandioca em resposta à fração de água transpirável no solo

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the response of plant transpiration and leaf growth to the fraction of transpirable soil water (FTSW) in potato and cassava clones. Three experiments were conducted with potato, two of them were in Spring, with plantings on 08/20/2008 (BAT1) and on 10/20/2008 (BAT2), and one experiment in Fall, with planting on 03/25/2009 (BAT3). Two experiments were conducted with cassava, with plantings on 09/11/2009 (MAN1) and on 09/08/2010 (MAN2). The experiments were conducted in 8 liter pots filled with soil inside a plastic house. Two potato clones (Macaca and SMINIA 793101- 3) and two cassava clones (Fécula Branca and Fepagro RS 13) were used. Soil water, represented by the FTSW, transpiration and leaf growth were measured on a daily basis during the period of soil drying. The threshold FTSW that starts to affect transpiration, which is an indicator of stomata closure, was 0.38, 0.47 and 0.28 for the clone Macaca and 0.48, 0.51 and 0.32 for the clone SMINIA793101-3 in BAT1, BAT2 and BAT3, respectively, whereas leaf growth decreased at a greater threshold FTSW for Macaca . These results indicate that the clone SMINIA793101-3 is more tolerant to soil water deficit than Macaca . For cassava, the threshold FTSW for transpiration was 0.45 in the clone Fécula Branca and 0.50 in the clone Fepagro RS 13 . The onset of reduction in leaf growth was at a FTSW of 0.51 in the clone Fécula Branca and 0.49 in the clone Fepagro RS 13 .When data were separated in days with low and high vapor pressure deficit at 3PM, threshold FTSW for transpiration and leaf growth changed in both species and within each species. These results confirm the genetic variability available in each species and are a reminder on the complex genotype and environment relationships that characterize agricultural crops.