Beans cultivation and water regime on soil physical attributes

Abstract

Beans crop is an agricultural staple largely consumed in Brazil because it is part of the basic food of the population. Such a crop is usually grown by small growers and turns out to be of a great social and economical importance. The aim of the current manuscript was to scrutinize the effect of soil water status on its physical attributes, such as bulk density, total porosity, macroporosity, microporosity, hydraulic conductivity under protected environment conditions on beans crop (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). The effect of the soil physical attributes on the biological response of the plants was also investigated. The experiment was installed in March of 2016 in a greenhouse. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial scheme with four replications. The soil moisture within the stipulated levels (14, 21, 28 and 35% at a volume basis) was monitored by a TDR. Bulk density and microporosity did show an increasing linear trend as a function of the soil moisture levels adopted, whereas total porosity and macroporosity revealed a decreasing linear tendency. The cultivar factor affected bulk density, total porosity and macroporosity. The saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil did not demonstrate any correlation with crop yield components and was not governed by the beans genotypes grown under protected environment conditions.