Effect of Water Stress at Different Growth Stages on Growth and Yield of Quinoa under Field Conditions

Inefficient use of limited water resources, along with increasing population and increasing water demand for food production has severely threatened agricultural water resources. One way to overcome this problem is to improve water productivity by introducing new crops that tolerate water stresses such as quinoa. In this study, the effect of water stress at different stages of plant growth (vegetative, flowering, and grain filling) was studied on plant parameters, yield, and water productivity of quinoa (cv. Titicaca). This study was conducted under field conditions and the treatments were performed as a block experiment in a completely randomized design with four replications. Experimental factors were: treatment without water stress or full irrigation (F) and water stress treatment (D) at 50% of the need for full irrigation at different stages of quinoa growth. The application of deficit irrigation during different stages of plant growth decreased stomatal conductance, leaf area index, leaf water potential, seed yield, and water productivity, while deficit irrigation increased the green canopy temperature. According to the results of the present study, the flowering stage of quinoa was very sensitive to water stress leading to produce lower yield compared with the amount of yield obtained when vegetative and or grain filling stages are under water stress conditions.