Water and stress effects on growth and rubber : accumulation in guayule (Parthenium argentatum gray)

Abstract

Recently, canopy temperature measurements and atmospheric vapor pressure deficits have been used to determine water stress in numerous plant species. A linear regression of the two parameters yields a crop water stress index (CWSI) baseline capable of determining a fraction of water stress between 0 (wet) and 100 (dry). Such a baseline was determined for one line of guayule (N396) in the spring of 1983 and used to determine time of irrigation for field plots. Three irrigation treatments were chosen based on CWSI measurements to aquire a relationship between rubber yield and water Stress. Treatments were irrigated when their respective CWSI measurements reached 0.30 (wet=1), 0.60 (medium=2), and 0.90 (dry=3). Duplicate tests were planted to determine if water delivery by drip irrigation differed from furrow irrigated plots. Very good correlations exist between rubber yield and seasonally averaged CWSI (r = 0.85). The interrelationship of rubber yield and total water applied was also high with r = 0.87. The highest rubber yield occurred in March in treatment 1 (wet) in the furrow irrigated field. Rubber yield was positively correlated with total water applied and inversely correlated with CWSI. Small differences were observed between the type of water delivery system used with similar treatments from both fields not being significantly different. The wet and medium treatments in both fields were about the same with the dry treatment being significantly different from the wet and medium treatments for total water applied. This indicates that guayule is not as sensitive to changes of 0.30 CWSI units as other species measured. Correlations between the CWSI and soil moisture deficits were very good with r=0.83 for 1983 and r=0.91 for 1984 indicating the CWSI can be used accurately to determine soil moisture deficits and vice-versa. A 0-stress moisture deficit range (0-SMDR) was determined for guayule where 0.0-2.26 and 0.0-4.58 cm (1983 and 1984, respectively) of water could be depleted from the soil profile before the plants showed stress as indicated by the CWSI. The 0-SMDR appears to be constant for a particular plant species in the same field for a particular year and may further define and standardize plant available soil moisture.