Genotypic variation in water use efficiency, gaseous exchange and yield of four cassava landraces grown under rainfed conditions in South Africa

Abstract

Agricultural production under rain-fed conditions is largely dependent on the availability of water stored in the soil during rainfall events. The production of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) under rain-fed conditions in the north-eastern part of South Africa is constrained by low and erratic rainfall events. Improving cassava production in the area requires the use of cassava varieties which are efficient in the use of limited soil moisture. The current climate change and increasing population growth on the planet will place more pressure on agriculture to produce more food using less water. Therefore, previously under-researched and underutilised crop like cassava could be used to bridge the food gap in the future. Although the crop currently occupies low levels of utilisation in South Africa and it is cultivated by smallscale farmers in the Low-veld of Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Kwazulu-Natal provinces using landraces with no improved varieties available in the country. Information on the actual pattern of water extraction, water use and water use efficiency of cassava landraces grown in the dry environments of South Africa is limited. Therefore, the objective of the study was to determine the differences in water use efficiency, gaseous exchange and yield among four cassava landraces grown under rain-fed conditions. Two field experiments were conducted during the wetter (2016/2017) and drier (2017/2018) cropping season at the University of Venda's experimental farm. The trials were laid in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) consisting of four cassava landraces (ACC#1, ACC#2, ACC#3, and ACC#4) replicated three times. Mature cassava stem cuttings of 30 cm long, were planted manually at a spacing of 1 m x 1 m in both seasons. Each experimental unit consisted of six plant rows of 6 m length (36 m2) and 8 rows of 8 m length (64 m2) in the 2016/17 and 2017/2018 cropping season, respectively. The experiments were under rain-fed conditions without fertilizer additions and the plots were kept weed-free throughout the experimental period. Data collected in the field included soil moisture content, gaseous exchange parameters (net leaf ܥܱଶ uptake, stomatal conductance, and intracellular carbon dioxide concentration), chlorophyll content index (CCI), maximum photochemical quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm), effective quantum yield of PSII (ФPSII) and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR). Yield and yield components (root length (cm), root girth (cm), number of storage roots and mean root weight (g plant-1), root yield and aboveground biomass), as well as water use efficiency (WUE), were determined at harvest. Soil moisture content was measured at seven-day interval from sowing until harvest using a neutron probe. Soil moisture data were used to determine crop water use using the water balance approach. There was no variation in the root yield and yield components amongst the landraces in 2017/2018 cropping season but, genotypes affected aboveground biomass, root girth, number of roots per plant and root yield in 2016/2017 cropping season. There was a significant difference (P<0.01) in number of roots (per plant) 81% and 62% greater in ACC#3 and ACC#2 (6.7 & 6.0, respectively) compared with ACC#1 and ACC#4, which both recorded 4 roots per plant. Similarly, root girth was greater in ACC#3 (17.8 cm) and ACC#2 (18.2 cm) compared to ACC#1 (14.1 cm) and ACC#4 (12.9 cm), which were statistically the same. In contrast, total biomass (P<0.01) and root yield (P<0.05) were greater in ACC#3 (20.7 and 11.9 t ha-1, respectively) and ACC#1 (22.0 and 11.3 t ha-1, respectively) compared to ACC#2 and ACC#4 with root yields of 10.2 and 9.5 t ha-1, biomass of 17.1 and 16.3 t ha-1, respectively. Although the genotype x cropping season interaction did not affect root yield and yield components, root yield (by 33.8%; 2.7 t ha-1) and yield components were greater in the wetter compared to the drier season as expected. Water use efficiency of root yield (WUErt) and water use efficiency of biomass production (WUEb) varied with landraces in season I from 37.0 kg ha-1 mm-1 (ACC#4) to 46.60 kg ha-1 mm-1 (ACC#3), and between 71.30 kg ha-1 mm-1 (ACC#2) and 86.0 kg ha-1 mm-1 (ACC#1), respectively. Landraces did not differ in their water use and soil moisture extraction in both seasons but differed in season. However, there was a significant positive correlation between water use efficiency of root yield (WUErt) (0.963***) and water use efficiency of biomass production (WUEb) (0.847***). WUE of biomass production was greater in the drier than the wetter season partly because of dry matter accumulation per evapotranspiration within the landraces. Photosynthesis did not vary with landraces, however, stomatal conductance varied with landraces from 0.08 mmol m-2 s-1 (ACC#4) to 0.2 mmol m-2 s-1 (ACC#2). In contrast, ACC#1 and ACC#3 recorded the same value of stomatal conductance, which is 0.1 mmol m-2 s-1. The effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry (ΦPSII) did not vary with landraces but the maximum photochemical quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm) varied with landraces from 0.652 (ACC#4) to 0.792 (ACC#3) in season II. The proportion of intercepted radiation was affected by landraces in 2017/2018 cropping season. Highest proportion of intercepted radiation was observed in ACC#3 and the lowest in ACC#2. Proportion of intercepted radiation varied with landraces from 22.62% (ACC#2) to 86.45% (#ACC#3). There were significant genotypic variations in chlorophyll content recorded in both season. Chlorophyll content varied with landraces from 33.1 CCI (ACC4) to 55.4 CCI (#ACC3) in the 2016/2017, and in 2017/2018 cropping season chlorophyll content varied with landraces from 36.9 CCI (ACC4) to 78.7 CCI (#ACC3). The highest genotypic variation in chlorophyll content was observed in ACC#3, whilst the lowest chlorophyll content was recorded in ACC#4 in both seasons.