Water stress and vegetable crops

Summary

This chapter reviews the physiological and agronomic responses of vegetable crops to water stress conditions including drought, soil salinity, and waterlogging. It addresses how limited and poor-quality irrigation water supplies necessitate more efficient water management, modified agronomic practices, and development of stress-tolerant crop varieties through breeding and genetic approaches. The paper emphasises the diversity of vegetable crops and the stage-dependent effects of water stress on plant development and yield.

Regional applicability

The findings apply broadly to United Kingdom horticulture, particularly regarding future water scarcity pressures and the need for efficient irrigation management. The emphasis on crop breeding for drought and salinity tolerance is relevant to UK vegetable production, though specific cultivar recommendations would require UK-focused experimental validation. The discussion of water quality and municipal wastewater reuse may have particular relevance to intensive horticultural regions.

Key measures

Crop growth parameters (leaf area, stem height, chlorophyll content, root development); water stress severity, duration and timing; gene expression responses to abiotic stress; water-use efficiency

Outcomes reported

The chapter examines how water stress (drought, salinity, waterlogging) affects vegetable crop growth, physiology, and development, and discusses management strategies and breeding approaches to enhance water-use efficiency and stress tolerance. It covers morphological responses (reduced growth, leaf area, stem height, chlorophyll content, root development) and genetic/molecular adaptation mechanisms.

Topic tags