Articles
Hop water status in Galicia (NW Spain): eco-physiological approach
Article number
1328_20
Pages
145 – 152
Language
English
Abstract
In temperate regions where hop (Humulus lupulus L.) is cultivated traditionally, coping with water scarcity requires a sustainable use of limited resources, especially under the current climate change scenario.
This water deficit can result from low precipitation and/or low soil water holding capacity, extreme temperatures (either cold or hot), low atmospheric vapour pressure or a combination of all these factors.
To assess the water status of hop plants, several physiological variables (stomatal conductance, leaf water potential, chlorophyll content index and relative water content of leaves) were determined in a Galician hop yard (Spain) under two irrigation treatments: full irrigation and 80% irrigation during the 2019 growing season.
Weather data were obtained from the nearest meteorological station, at 1 km distance from the experimental site.
Moreover, a diurnal cycle of the physiological variables was obtained through measures every 2 h on a day in August, prior to harvest.
An absence of differences between treatments for leaf water potential was observed over the season; however, slightly higher values of leaf water potential were observed after midday under the 80% irrigation treatment, indicating a slow recovering of water into the leaves.
However, stomatal conductance showed higher differences between treatments at noon (11:00 solar time), although at 15:00 significant differences have also been observed.
Relative water content at 9:00 and 15:00 differed between irrigation treatments.
In conclusion, all the eco-physiological parameters referred to hop water status should be determined at 15:00 solar time because a greater differentiation between irrigation strategies was detected.
The methodology proposed should be applied in other regions and to other hop cultivars in order to assess its reliability as a tool to assess crop water status and manage irrigation systems.
This water deficit can result from low precipitation and/or low soil water holding capacity, extreme temperatures (either cold or hot), low atmospheric vapour pressure or a combination of all these factors.
To assess the water status of hop plants, several physiological variables (stomatal conductance, leaf water potential, chlorophyll content index and relative water content of leaves) were determined in a Galician hop yard (Spain) under two irrigation treatments: full irrigation and 80% irrigation during the 2019 growing season.
Weather data were obtained from the nearest meteorological station, at 1 km distance from the experimental site.
Moreover, a diurnal cycle of the physiological variables was obtained through measures every 2 h on a day in August, prior to harvest.
An absence of differences between treatments for leaf water potential was observed over the season; however, slightly higher values of leaf water potential were observed after midday under the 80% irrigation treatment, indicating a slow recovering of water into the leaves.
However, stomatal conductance showed higher differences between treatments at noon (11:00 solar time), although at 15:00 significant differences have also been observed.
Relative water content at 9:00 and 15:00 differed between irrigation treatments.
In conclusion, all the eco-physiological parameters referred to hop water status should be determined at 15:00 solar time because a greater differentiation between irrigation strategies was detected.
The methodology proposed should be applied in other regions and to other hop cultivars in order to assess its reliability as a tool to assess crop water status and manage irrigation systems.
Publication
Authors
J.M. Mirás-Avalos, M. Fandiño, J.J. Cancela
Keywords
leaf water potential, irrigation, stomatal conductance, water relations
Online Articles (21)