Response of common bean cultivars and lines to water stress
Juliana C. Molina; Vania Moda-Cirino; Nelson da Silva Fonseca Júnior; Rogério Teixeira de Faria and Deonisio Destro
Water stress tolerance was assessed in three cultivars and seven lines of cammon bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) belonging to the commercial black and carioca groups. Two independent experiments, one for each group, were set up in Londrina in the year 2000 wet season. A randomized complete block design was used with splitplots and three replications. The plots consisted of treatments with and without water stress and the splitplots of cultivars and lines. Grain yield and grain yield components were assessed. There was genetic variability among the cultivars and lines, as detected by the estimates of the genetic, environmental variation coefficients and B index. Water stress reduced grain yield by, approximately, 50%, but the IPR88 Uirapuru cultivar, from the black commercial group, and the LP 97-13 and LP 97-4 lines from the carioca commercial group stood out as drought tolerant and showed with high yield potential.