Effects of Water Deficit on Seedling Growth of Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper, Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek and Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Abstract

Effects of water deficit on growth of 6 day old seedlings of black gram, mung bean and kidney bean were investigated. The plants were divided into 3 treatment groups. 1) Control plants received water every day. 2) Water stress was induced by non-irrigated water for 9 days. 3) All plants in the re-watering group were under 6 days of water stress before re-watering for 3 days. Analyses included epicotyl height, fresh weight, and relative water content (RWC) in leaves on the 0, 3^rd, 6^th and 9^th days. The results indicated that epicotyl height, fresh weight, and RWC decreased when the days of water deficit increased, compared to the control group. The results also showed that the physiological indexes of all three species could recover rapidly after rewatering. Black gram retained RWC better than mung bean and kidney bean when subjected to water stress for 9 days. Black gram is more tolerant to water stress than the other 2 species.