Strategies for the saline water irrigation management in bean plant

Abstract This study was carried out to define strategies for the saline water irrigation management in bean plant, based on soil water potential, as well as on physiological and production parameters. The experiment was conducted in the lysimeter station at the drainage and irrigation experimental area, located at campus of the Universidade Federal de Viçosa, MG. Treatments consisted of seven leaching fractions corresponding to 40, 31, 25, 23, 16, 14 and 3% of the irrigation water depth; for the leaching fraction of 3%, the fresh water (0.07 dS m-1) was used, whereas for the saline water (2 dS m-1) for the other fractions were used. According to the results, the appropriate irrigation management for the bean plant under saline stress requires: addition of the osmotic component in the soil water potential to the matrix component; leaching of the excessive salts of the soil profile; estimate of the relative crop production; and physiological measurements.