Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2025, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (4): 779-789.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20240656

• Crop Science • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of deficit irrigation at different growth stages on photosynthetic characteristics, yield and quality of Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus

LI Yancui1(), LI Fuqiang2,*(), ZHOU Bo1   

  1. 1. Gansu Research Institute for Water Conservancy, Lanzhou 730030, China
    2. College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
  • Received:2024-07-20 Online:2025-04-25 Published:2025-05-09

Abstract:

In order to investigate the effects of deficit irrigation at different growth stages on photosynthetic characteristics, water productivity and medicinal quality of Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus under film drip irrigation, a field experiment was carried out in the cold irrigation district of Hexi Oasis of China. Mild (65%-75% of the field capacity) and moderate (55%-65% of the field capacity) water deficit were applied at seedling, budding and flowering, root elongation and root thickening stages, respectively, and full irrigation (75%-85% of the field capacity) during the whole growth stage was used as the control (CK). The results showed that compared to the CK, water deficit at different growth stages significantly (P<0.05) reduced the relative chlorophyll content (SPAD value), net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance in leaves of A. membranaceus var. mongholicus. The yield under mild water deficit treatments at seedling or budding and flowering stages was not significantly different from that under CK, but the water use efficiency increased significantly by 13.98% and 12.99%, respectively. Compared to the CK, mild water deficit treatments at root elongation and root thickening stages significantly increased astragaloside content by 4.05% and 3.57%, respectively, and calycosin-7-glucoside content by 9.53% and 10.20%, respectively, but the yield under the two treatments was significantly decreased by 8.79% and 13.99%, respectively. The comprehensive evaluation result showed that the mild water deficit treatment at seedling stage could be recommended as an appropriate deficit irrigation strategy for A. membranaceus var. mongholicus production in Hexi Oasis irrigation area.

Key words: water deficit, photosynthetic characteristics, yield, quality, comprehensive evaluation, Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicu

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