DRY BEAN (PHASEOLUS VULGARIS L.) CROP WATER PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS AND YIELD RESPONSE FACTORS IN AN ARID TO SEMI-ARID CLIMATE

Under changing climate conditions and declining water resources, understanding crop response to water stress is critical for effective irrigation management. The objectives of this study were to quantify dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L., cv. Othello) soil moisture dynamics, crop evapotranspiration (ETc), and yield response factor and to develop dry bean irrigation and crop water production functions (IWPF and CWPF). Five irrigation treatments, i.e., full irrigation (FIT), 75% FIT, 50% FIT, 25% FIT, and 125% FIT, were evaluated using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications for three years (2017, 2018, and 2019) in the arid to semi-arid intermountain region of Powell, Wyoming. The results showed a significant influence of irrigation on dry bean soil moisture dynamics and ETc. The dry bean crop showed a greater soil moisture fluctuation in the top 0.3 m of the soil profile compared to 0.6 m and at 0.9 m. ETc ranged from 187 to 438 mm, from 190 to 409 mm, and from 217 to 398 mm in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 growing seasons, respectively. A positive two-segment relationship was observed between dry bean seed yield and cumulative irrigation water applied. The average cumulative seasonal irrigation of 310 mm resulted in maximum seed yield. For all three years, the seed yield increased linearly with ETc. Combining the data from the three years resulted in a CWPF with a slope of 18.9 kg ha(-1) mm(-1) and an offset of 171 mm of ETc (i.e., the ETc required for crop establishment before any seed yield is produced, or threshold ETc). Moreover, the dry bean crop was found to be sensitive to water stress (K-y = 1.94). These results indicated that under the typical semi-arid to arid climate conditions of the intermountain region of Wyoming, deficit irrigation of dry bean may not be a viable strategy because the yield loss outweighs water-saving benefits.