Seasonal variations in leaf gas exchange of plantain cv. Harton (Musa AAB) under different soil water conditions in a humid tropical region

The seasonal effect of soil water availability on leaf gas exchange of plantain plants cv. Harton growing on two different texture soils (loamy and clayey) were evaluated. Soil water deficits corresponded to 48, 24 and 4 days without precipitation. Daily measurements of leaf gas exchange and microclimatic conditions were carried out at 2 h intervals in a humid tropical environment south of Maracaibo Lake, Venezuela. The results show that cv. Harton is sensitive to conditions of low water deficit on loamy and to a much greater degree on clayey soils. A marked reduction in leaf conductance (g(s)) was observed under severe as well as moderate deficit (below 50 mmol m(-2) s(-1)) on clayey soils. Under low deficit g(s) increases to values between 60 and 100 mmol m(-2) s(-1). The same trend was observed in plants on loamy soils but higher gs for all conditions were obtained compared with plants on clayey soil. Stomatal closure produced a reduction of 85 and 55% of total assimilation (A(tot)) for severe and moderate deficit in plants on clayey soils, respectively. While plants on loamy soil exhibited a 65 and 35% reduction, respectively. Water use efficiency (WUE) consistently decreased as available soil water decreased on both soil types. Independently of soil water conditions, higher WUE were always obtained for loamy soils. This suggests that cv. Harton does not have the ability to adjust the CO2 assimilation to transpiration ratio in order to optimize gas exchange. This evidences the importance of maintaining high conditions of available soil water in order to avoid lower assimilation rates that probably influence negatively on yield and fruit quality. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.