Abstract
Water scarcity remains a major constraint to sustainable crop production, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. This study investigated the effects of foliar selenium (Se) application as water stress management strategy on common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). It assessed growth and water productivity under Deficit Irrigation (DI). A greenhouse experiment was conducted at the Tatton Agricultural Park at Egerton University for one season using a randomized complete block design with three replicates. The experiment consisted of three irrigation regimes;100%, 70%, and 50% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and four selenium concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mg/L). The results revealed that full irrigation 100% ETc and moderate water deficit at 70% ETc, combined with foliar application of 1.5 mg/L Se, significantly (p < 0.05) improved growth and yield parameters. Further, water productivity was highest under the 70% ETc and 1.5 mg/L by Se treatment, suggesting enhanced physiological efficiency and drought resilience. Selenium application mitigated the adverse effects of water stress by supporting plant metabolism, antioxidative defense, and stomatal regulation. Furthermore, the highest total pod yield (13177.8Kg/Ha) was obtained at 100% ETc combined with 1.5mg/L of foliar selenium, but statistically on pair with 70% ETc and 1.5mg/L of selenium concentration compared to the control treatment 100% ETc and no foliar selenium application (8785.2Kg/Ha), while the lowest pod yield (2288.9Kg/Ha) was attained at 50% ETc combined with no foliar selenium application. These findings demonstrate that supplying 70% ETc with 1.5 mg/L of selenium concentration instead of full water requirement can be a good strategic approach to improving water use efficiency and sustaining common bean production under limited water availability. The study provides valuable insight for developing climate-smart irrigation practices thus contributing to sustainable water management.
References
Abouelhamd, N., Gharib, F. A. E. L., Amin, A. A., & Ahmed, E. Z. (2023). Impact of foliar spray with Se, nano-Se and sodium sulfate on growth, yield and metabolic activities of red kidney bean. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-43677-8
Ahmad, R., Waraich, E. A., Nawaz, F., Ashraf, M. Y., & Khalid, M. (2016). Selenium (Se) improves drought tolerance in crop plants - a myth or fact? Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 96(2), 372–380. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.7231
Ali, J., Jan, I. U., & Ullah, H. (2020). Selenium supplementation affects vegetative and yield attributes to escalate drought tolerance in Okra. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture, 36(1), 120–129. https://doi.org/10.17582/journal.sja/2020/36.1.120.129
Alipour, S., Amini, M. Z., & Haidari, M. D. (2022). Effects of regulated deficit irrigation on crop water productivity, yield components, and yield response factor of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L). Central Asian Journal of Water Research, May, 112–125. https://doi.org/10.29258/cajwr/2022-r1.v8-1/112-125.eng
Allen, R. G., Pereira, L. S., Raes, D., & Smith, M. (1998). Crop evapotraspiration guidelines for computing crop water requirements. In FAO Irrigation & drainage Paper 56.
Andrade, F. R., da Silva, G. N., Guimarães, K. C., Barreto, H. B. F., de Souza, K. R. D., Guilherme, L. R. G., Faquin, V., & Reis, A. R. dos. (2018). Selenium protects rice plants from water deficit stress. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 164(2018), 562–570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2018.08.022
Chen, H., Cheng, Q., Chen, Q., Ye, X., Qu, Y., Song, W., Fahad, S., Gao, J., Saud, S., Xu, Y., & Shen, Y. (2022). Effects of Selenium on Growth and Selenium Content Distribution of Virus-Free Sweet Potato Seedlings in Water Culture. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13(July). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.965649
Elhani, S., Haddadi, M., Csákvári, E., Zantar, S., Hamim, A., Villányi, V., Douaik, A., & Bánfalvi, Z. (2019). Effects of partial root-zone drying and deficit irrigation on yield, irrigation water-use efficiency and some potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) quality traits under glasshouse conditions. Agricultural Water Management, 224(November). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2019.105745
Fathi, A., & Tari, D. B. (2016). Effect of Drought Stress and its Mechanism in Plants. International Journal of Life Sciences, 10(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.3126/ijls.v10i1.14509
Fereres, E., & Soriano, M. A. (2007). Deficit irrigation for reducing agricultural water use. Journal of Experimental Botany, 58(2), 147–159. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erl165
Ghassemi-Golezani, K., Zafarani-Moattar, P., Raey, Y., & Mohammadi, A. (2010). Response of pinto bean cultivars to water deficit at reproductive stages. Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment, 8(2), 801–804.
Hashim, B. A., & Mohammed, H. A. (2023). Effect of Spraying Potassium and Selenium on the Vegetative Growth Characteristics of Bean Plant ( Phaseolus vulgares L.) Affected by Water Stress. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1262(8). https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1262/8/082016
Hirich, A., Choukr-Allah, R., Jacobsen, S.-E., & Omari, H. El. (2014). Using deficit irrigation with treated wastewater to improve crop water productivity of sweet corn, chickpea, faba bean and quinoa. Rev. Mar. Sci. Agron. Vét, 2(1), 15–22. https://www.agrimaroc.org/index.php/Actes_IAVH2/article/view/305%0Ahttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/280570004
Hmood, W., Ragab, M., Mousa, S., & Metwally, A. (2022). Effect of Selenium and Silicon Foliar Applications on the Growth and Yield of Common Bean. Egyptian Journal of Horticulture, 49(2), 147–158. https://doi.org/10.21608/ejoh.2022.134209.1197
Imran, M., Chen, Z., Mehmood, A., Rukh, S., Weixie, W., Asghar, W., & Iftikhar, F. (2023). Distribution of Selenium in Soils and Human Health. In Selenium and Human Health (pp. 1–12). IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110636
Kalaydjieva, R., Matev, A., & Zlatev, Z. (2015). Influence of irrigation regime on the leaf area and leaf area index of French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture, 27(2), 171–177. https://doi.org/10.9755/ejfa.v27i2.19271
Karimzadeh Soureshjani, H., Nezami, A., Kafi, M., & Tadayon, M. (2019). Responses of two common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes to deficit irrigation. Agricultural Water Management, 213(2018), 270–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2018.09.038
Kütük Dinçel, N. G., İlbaş, A. İ., & Beyzi, E. (2024). Effects of Foliar Selenium Spraying on Yield and Quality Characteristics of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum L.) at Different Plant Growth Stages. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 55(19), 2923–2934. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2024.2379592
Lone, A. A., Khan, M. N., Gul, A., Dar, Z. A., Iqbal, A. M., Lone, B. A., Ahangar, A., Rasool, F. U., Khan, M. H., Ali, G., Nisar, F., & Fayaz, A. (2021). Common Beans and Abiotic Stress Challenges. Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology, 40(14), 41–53. https://doi.org/10.9734/cjast/2021/v40i1431402
Marques, B., Bahcevandziev, K., de Melo, P. C., & Critchley, A. T. (2022). The Influence of Applications of Bio-Inputs Derived from Macroalgae and Bacteria on a Phaseolus vulgaris L. Crop. Frontiers in Bioscience - Elite, 14(3). https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbe1403021
Mendoza-Pérez, C., Ramírez-Ayala, C., Ojeda-Bustamante, W., & Flores-Magdaleno, H. (2017). Estimation of leaf area index and yield of greenhouse-grown poblano pepper. Ingeniería Agrícola y Biosistemas, 9(1), 37–50. https://doi.org/10.5154/r.inagbi.2017.04.009
Moloi, M. J., & Khoza, B. M. (2022). The Effect of Selenium Foliar Application on the Physiological Responses of Edamame under Different Water Treatments. Agronomy, 12(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12102400
Moulick, D., Mukherjee, A., Das, A., Roy, A., Majumdar, A., Dhar, A., Kumar, B., Chowardhara, B., Ghosh, D., Kumar, M., Yadav, P., Hazra, S., Sarkar, S., Mahanta, S., Santra, S. C., Choudhury, S., Maitra, S., Nandan, U., & Brestic, M. (2024). Selenium – An environmentally friendly micronutrient in agroecosystem in the modern era : An overview of 50-year findings. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 270(115832), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115832
Nahar, K., Ali, M. H., Amin, A. K. M. R., & Hasanuzzaman, M. (2009). Moisture Content and Germination of Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Under Different Storage Conditions. Academic Journal of Plant Sciences, 2(4), 237–241.
Newman, R., Waterland, N., Moon, Y., & Tou, J. C. (2019). Selenium Biofortification of Agricultural Crops and Effects on Plant Nutrients and Bioactive Compounds Important for Human Health and Disease Prevention – a Review. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 74(4), 449–460. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-019-00769-z
Ng’etich, O. K., Aguyoh, J. N., & Ogweno, J. O. (2014). The Effect of Integrated Application of Farmyard Manure and Calcium Ammonium Nitrate on Growth and Yield Attributes of African Nightshade (Solanum Scabrum Mill.). Asian Journal of Agriculture and Food Science, 02(02), 2321–1571. www.ajouronline.com
Ragályi, P., Takács, T., Füzy, A., Uzinger, N., Dobosy, P., Záray, G., Szűcs‐vásárhelyi, N., & Rékási, M. (2021). Effect of se‐enriched irrigation water on the biomass production and elemental composition of green bean, cabbage, potato and tomato. Plants, 10(10), 2086. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10102086
Ravello, R. A. V., de Oliveira, C., Lessa, J., Vilas Boas, L. V., de Castro, E. M., Guilherme, L. R. G., & Lopes, G. (2022). Selenium application influenced selenium biofortification and physiological traits in water-deficit common bean plants. Crop and Pasture Science, 73(2), 44–55. https://doi.org/10.1071/CP20519
Rop, D. K., Kipkorir, E. C., & Taragon, J. K. (2016). Effects of Deficit Irrigation on Yield and Quality of Onion Crop. Journal of Agricultural Science, 8(3), 112. https://doi.org/10.5539/jas.v8n3p112
Semida, W. M., Abd El-Mageed, T. A., Gyushi, M. A. H., Abd El-Mageed, S. A., Rady, M. M., Abdelkhalik, A., Merah, O., Sabagh, A. El, El-Metwally, I. M., Sadak, M. S., & Abdelhamid, M. T. (2023). Exogenous Selenium Improves Physio-Biochemical and Performance of Drought-Stressed Phaseolus vulgaris Seeded in Saline Soil. Soil Systems, 7(3), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems7030067
Semida, W. M., El-mageed, T. A. A., Mohamed, S. E., El-sawah, N. A., Semida, W. M., El-mageed, T. A. A., Mohamed, S. E., & El-sawah, N. A. (2016). Combined effect of deficit irrigation and foliar- applied salicylic acid on physiological responses , yield , and water use efficiency of onion plants in saline calcareous soil. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2016.1264579
Zahedi, H., Noormohammadi, G., Shirani Rad, A. H., Habibi, D., & Akbar Boojar, M. M. (2009). Effect of Zeolite and Foliar Application of Selenium on Growth, Yield and Yield Component of Three Canola Cultivar under Conditions of Late Season Drought Stress. Notulae Scientia Biologicae, 1(1), 73–80. https://doi.org/10.15835/nsb113500
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 V.L. Gamba, R.O. Okwany, S. Nyakach, P.B. Sesani