Effect of Irrigation on Growth, Yield, and Chemical Composition of Two Green Bean Cultivars

A study was conducted in an environmentally controlled greenhouse to evaluate two green bean cultivars, 'Bronco' and 'Paulista', under three application volumes of irrigation water based on replacing 100, 80, and 60% of evapotranspiration (ET). The experiment was in a split-plot design with three replications, recording vegetative growth, yield, pod parameters, water use efficiency (WUE), and chemical content of pods. The results showed that there were no differences between 80% ET and 100% ET for most parameters. In addition, 80% of ET increased the pod yield and improved the pod parameters and chemical composition. Therefore, this irrigation treatment can increase green bean productivity and improve pod quality. Reducing water application from 100 to 60% of ET progressively increased WUE. The 'Bronco' cultivar had a higher plant height, pod yield, WUE, pod weight, pod diameter, and total fiber amount than 'Paulista', while the 'Paulista' cultivar was superior in total chlorophyll, number of pods per plant, pod length, P, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, protein, vitamin C, titratable acid, and soluble sugar.