Growth, yield and water use of lentils (Lens culinaris) in Canterbury, New Zealand

Abstract

Lentils (Lens culinaris Medik.) were sown on eight sowing dates from April to November in two seasons in Canterbury, New Zealand. In 1984/85, six sowing dates were combined with two lentil cultivars (Olympic and Titore) and two irrigation treatments. In 1985/86, Titore was sown on two dates, with four irrigation treatments. An additional experiment grown under rain shelters examined the response of Titore to four irrigation regimes. The 1984/85 season was dry and rainfall was only 70% of the long-term mean. In this season, seed yield was high, 33 t/ha from the May sowing. The 1985/86 season was wetter than average and seed yields were lower, ranging from 0-6 to 1-5 t/ha. Under rain shelters, seed yield ranged from the equivalent of 0-32 to 2-5 t/ha.Sowing date had the most marked effect on seed yield. In the 1984/85 season, all autumn and winter sowings yielded 2-4-3-3 t/ha, whereas the spring sowings yielded 0-5-1-5 t/ha. In 1985/86, unirrigated plots from the May sowing yielded 1-5 t/ha, whereas all other plots yielded c. 0-8 t/ha.Generally, the small-seeded cultivar Titore outyielded Olympic. Dry matter (DM) accumulation followed similar trends to seed yield. Seasonal DM accumulation followed a sigmoidal curve. Functional growth analysis indicated that plants from autumn/winter sowings had a weighted mean absolute growth rate of 110-171 kg/ha per day, whereas spring-sown plants grew at 96-137 kg/ha per day. The maximum crop growth rate was 230 kg/ha per day in the July 1984 sowing.There was little positive response to irrigation in both seasons. Under rain shelters, there was a linear increase in both dry matter and seed production with increased total water. Fully irrigated plants produced 1-27 g DM and 0-72 g seed/m s per mm of water received.In the field experiments there was no relationship between maximum potential soil moisture deficit (D) and yield. Under rain shelters, however, there was a linear relationship which indicated a limiting deficit of c. 130 mm. The relationship showed that, for each millimetre increase in D above O,, 0-39% of the maximum yield was lost.Under the rain shelters, there was a strong relationship between yield and actual evapotranspiration (ET). Water-use efficiency (WUE) ranged from 2-81 g DM/m 2 per mm ET in unirrigated plots to 0-69 g seed/m 2 per mm ET.

Canopy growth and biomass partitioning to yield in short-season lentil

“…In lentil, increased interception of solar radiation due to early seeding enables plants to make rapid early spring growth, resulting in high yield (McKenzie and Hill 1990). Assuming that the radiation use efficiency is constant, crop yield would be the product of three entities: radiation use efficiency, absorbed solar radiation, and HI (Gallagher and Biscoe 1978).…”

“…Choosing new cultivars based on high biomass production is unlikely to produce stable yields. Under irrigation, excessive vegetative growth caused by extra moisture has led to increased disease, increased lodging, lower overall HI and lower seed yield (McKenzie and Hill 1990).…”

Effects of irrigation and sowing date on phenology and yield of pinto beans(Phaseolus vulgarisL.) in Canterbury, New Zealand

“…The increased vegetative growth found to be common in Canterbury with early sowings of grain legumes such as chickpeas (Hernandez 1986), field beans (Husain etal. 1988b), and lentils (McKenzie & Hill 1990), accounted for the low seed yield and HI. Although irrigation caused a 100% increase in seed yield of the December-sown crops (Table 3), farmers can run into harvest and seed quality problems if wet conditions occur, such as in March 1996 (Table 1).…”

“…Other grain legume crops such as peas (Wilson 1987) and lentils (Lens culinaris Medik. ; McKenzie & Hill 1990) have exhibited more variable seed yields than their cereal counterparts in Canterbury. Variability in seed yield of a crop can be related to variability in yield components, as yield depends on the development of these components (Slinkard & Sindhu 1988).…”

“…27 Two factors which exert a large influence on the yield of grain legumes in Canterbury are sowing date and irrigation (Wilson 1987;Husain et al 1988a;McKenzie & Hill 1990). Timely seeding has long been recognised as a key to efficient crop production.…”