Growth and Yield Performance of Five Guar Cultivars in a Mediterranean Environment

Abstract

In order to evaluate growth and yield performance of guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) in Mediterranean area, main morphological parameters (plant height, dry weight of single plant parts, branch and leaf number), dry biomass accumulation and seed yield response of five varieties of guar (Esser, Malosan, Kinman, Lewis and Santa Cruz) were studied. Seed crude protein and fibre content were also determined. Irrigation was applied to ensure that water availability did not limit production. The growing season of guar lasted for 120 days for all the varieties. Average plant height at harvest was about 63 cm (ranging from 56.0 to 70.6 cm). The highest dry weight increment was recorded during 55-70 days after sowing. Malosan, Santa Cruz and Kinman showed the highest individual seed weight (> 30 mg). Above average leaf and branch number were observed in Kinman, Esser and Santa Cruz. The greatest seed protein content was observed in Lewis and Esser (35.6% and 34.7%). High yield and seed quality were obtained in these environments with limited water supply, indicating that guar may represent a valid alternative multipurpose crop for semiarid regions

Qualitative profile of degummed guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) seeds grown in a Mediterranean area for use as animal feed

“…Moreover, from an agricultural point of view, guar is an excellent drought tolerant crop, able to be profitably rotated with many crops such as cotton and sorghum (Rao, Tarafdar, Sharma, Kumar, & Aggarwal, ). Guar is mainly grown in India, Pakistan and to a lesser extent in the USA (Sharma, ), but its area of adaptability is expanding also to the irrigated areas of Mediterranean environments (Gresta et al., , ; Sortino & Gresta, ), where appropriate genotypes suitable for this environment have been identified (Gresta, De Luca, et al., ; Gresta, Santonoceto, et al., ). For the above‐mentioned reasons, guar is now assuming a larger role among domesticated plants due to its peculiar functional properties (Badr, Abdelfattah, El‐Sayed, Abd El‐Aziz, & Sakr, ; Srivastava et al., ).…”

Economic and environmental sustainability analysis of guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) farming process in a Mediterranean area: two case studies

“…This annual field crop is not exigent; it tolerates saline soils and drought well, which allows its cultivation in southern Italy with good results (Losavio et al, 2002;Sortino and Gresta, 2007;Gresta et al, 2013). Due to their water scarcity, Mediterranean areas could develop an interest in guar cultivation as an alternative crop (Gresta et al, 2013) in rotation with other vegetable crops or cereals in open fields, taking advantages of its beneficial effects on soil in terms of nitrogen fixation, boosted through inoculations of specific symbiotic microorganisms (Whistler and Hymowitz, 1979;Elsheikh and Ibrahim, 1999).…”

Studying the nutritive profile of guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] harvested at different ages and its potential as a summer forage legume in Egypt

“…Being a short duration and fast growing crop, guar fits well into most of the prevailing summer cropping systems (Ashraf et al, 2002). In Egypt, Farrag & Abd El-Latif (1997) stated that guar might be a promising summer forage crop that could be grown to fill the gap between the available and required forage crops for livestock feeding in the summer, especially that guar showed very good adaptation in other Mediterranean environments (Sortino & Gresta, 2007). There is still, however, lack of a complete nutritive profile of guar cultivated in Egypt as summer forage legume and cut at different plant ages.…”