EFFECT OF SUGAR ON BEAN PLANT GROWTH
ABSTRACT
This project was to determine if bean plants grew stronger and healthier by the addition of the right amount of sugar to their watering. It is believed that plants that receive 50 grams of sugar per liter of water would help bean plants grow to be stronger, healthier, and larger because they would get energy from the sugar. In order to investigate the effects of different irrigation regimes on growth and grain yield of three faba bean cultivars, a split-plot experiment (using RCB design) with three replications was conducted in Ahmadu Bello University.
Irrigation regimes (I1, I2 and I3: irrigation after 70, 100 and 130 mm evaporation from Class A pan, respectively) and faba bean cultivars (Aquodolce, Barakat and Saraziri) were allocated to main and subplots, respectively. The results of plant growth analysis on the basis of growing degree-days (GDD) revealed that dry matter accumulation (DMA), crop growth rate (CGR) and relative growth rate (RGR) were reduced due to water deficit. Water limitation also reduced grains per plant, grain filling duration and grain weight… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Sugar water stress affects practically every aspect of plant growth and metabolism. Plant responses to sugar water deficit depend upon various factors such as duration and degree of stress, growth stage, and time of stress exposure (Gupta and Sheoran, 1983). Due to their sedentary mode of life, plants resort to many adaptive strategies in response to different abiotic stresses such as high salt, dehydration, cold, and heat, which ultimately affect plant growth and productivity (Gill et al., 2003).
Against these stresses, plants adapt themselves by different mechanisms including change in morphological and developmental patterns as well as physiological and biochemical responses (Bohnert et al., 1995). Adaptation to all these stresses is associated with metabolic adjustments that lead to the modulation of different enzymes (Shinozaki and Shinozaki, 1996; Yan et al., 2001; Ehsanpour and Amini, 2003).
Among these enzymes are phosphatases, which are believed to be important for many physiological processes, including regulation of soluble phosphorous (Pi) (Yan et al., 2001). Phosphatases are traditionally classified as being acid and alkaline depending on their optimum pH for enzyme activity, above and below pH 7.0 (Barret-Lennard et al., 1982).
Free soluble phosphate reserves play a vital role in energy transfer, metabolic regulation, important structural constituent of biomolecules like phytin bodies in the ingeminated seeds, protein and nucleotide phosphorylation (Fincher 1989; Ehsanpour and Amini, 2003).
Although some abiotic stresses like salt, osmotic and sugar water have been reported to increase phosphatase activities by maintaining a certain level of inorganic phosphate in plant cells (Olmos and Hellin, 1997), the exact role of phosphatases in the germinated seeds is still not clear, because the metabolism of these compounds can be affected by a number of environmental factors such as stress type, irradiance, temperature, and type of ions present (Bohnert et al., 1995).
Germination of grains is initiated by sugar water uptake and its successful completion is signaled by the emergence of the developing root and shoots. Following uptake of water, hormone signals, probably released from the emergence, are believed to result in the synthesis of hydrolytic and other enzymes in the endosperm (Fincher, 1989) … (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Statement of Problem
The vital needs of a plant are very much like our own – light, water, air, nutrients, and proper temperature. The relative importance of each of these needs differs widely among plants. The ability of a plant species to spread throughout a geographic area is a direct result of its adaption to the abiotic and biotic components of the area.
Although most habitat components act on a plant simultaneously and should be considered together, the lack of one essential component can determine the health of a plant. This factor, whatever it may be, is referred to as a limiting factor. The concept of limiting factors applies to all aspects of a plant’s interaction with its habitat. Any factor in the ecosystem can act as a limiting factor… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Research Objective
The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of sugar on bean plant growth.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Bean Plant
A bean is the seed of one of several genera of the flowering plant family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. [1]They can be cooked in many different ways,[2] including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in several traditional dishes throughout the world.
The word “bean” and its Germanic cognates (e.g. German Bohne) have existed in common use in West Germanic languages since before the 12th century,[3] referring to broad beans, chickpeas, and other pod-borne seeds. This was long before the New World genus Phaseolus was known in Europe. After Columbian-era contact between Europe and the Americas, use of the word was extended to pod-borne seeds of Phaseolus, such as the common bean and the runner bean, and the related genus Vigna.
The term has long been applied generally to many other seeds of similar form,[3][4] such as Old World soybeans, peas, other vetches, and lupins, and even to those with slighter resemblances, such as coffee beans, vanilla beans, castor beans, and cocoa beans. Thus the term “bean” in general usage can refer to a host of different species.[5]… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Materials
This research was conducted in 2007 at the Research Farm of the Ahmadu Bello University. The climate of the research area is characterized by mean annual precipitation of 285 mm, mean annual temperature of 10°C, mean annual maximum temperature of 16.6 °C and mean annual minimum temperature of 4.2°C. The soil is sandy- loam with EC of 0.68 ds m-1, pH of 8.1, and field capacity of 28.8%.
Methods
The experiment was arranged as split-plot based on RCB design with 3 replications. Irrigation treatments (I1, I2, and I3: irrigation after 70, 100, and 130 mm evaporation from Class A pan, respectively) were located in main plots and faba bean cultivars (Aquodolce, Barakat, and Saraziri) were allocated to subplots.
The seeds were treated with 2 g/kg sugar water and then were sown by hand at a rate of 40 seeds/m2 in about 5 cm depth of soil. Subsequently, plots were fertilized with 150 kg/ha urea and irrigated. However, further irrigations were carried out according to the treatments… (Click the Link Below For the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Findings
Dry matter accumulation (DMA) of faba bean cultivars under all irrigation treatments at the earlier stages of growth was slow, but then increased rapidly up to about 1400 GDD and thereafter slightly changed or in some cases showed a little reduction (Fig. 1). Sugar water deficit negatively affected DMA of all cultivars. In general, dry matter production in all cultivars considerably reduced, as the intensity of sugar water shortage increased. ‘Barakat’ had the highest DMA under all irrigation treatments, compared with ‘Aquodolce’ and ‘Saraziri’.
Crop growth rate (CGR) of faba bean cultivars under full (I1) and limited (I and I) irrigations primarily increased, until maximum value was attained and then gradually decreased, with increasing GDD (Fig. 2). Maximum CGR of all cultivars under I1 and I2 was obtained at about 1146 GDD, but under I3 it was achieved at 928 GDD for ‘Aquodolce’ and ‘Barakat’ and at 1287 GDD for ‘Saraziri’. CGR of faba bean plants was subsequently reduced and in most cases it became negative at 1420-1610 GDD, depending on the cultivar (Fig. 2)… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
(Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Discussion
Legume plants with relatively high sugar water requirements are very sensitive to periodical soil drought since low rainfall during the vegetation season is one of the most important environmental factors limiting the crop yield 25.
Since there is a certain correlation between dry matter production and grain yield in faba bean crop, it appears that the maintenance of adequate levels of sugar water throughout the vegetative growth of faba bean is essential for high yields 31.
In this research, sugar water shortage exerted a large adverse influence on DMA, CGR and RGR of faba bean cultivars grown under field condition (Figs. 1-3)… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
CONCLUSION
Sugar water limitation considerably reduced grain yield of faba bean cultivars, due to large reductions in growth, grain filling duration, grain weight and grains per plant. The superiority of well-watered (I1) plants in growth and grain filling duration resulted in the production of comparatively more and larger grains and consequently higher grain yield per unit area… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
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