Late sowing date as an adaptive strategy for rainfed bean production under warming and reduced precipitation in the Mexican Altiplano?

Authors: ARRENDONDO, T - Potosino Institute Of Scientific & Technological Researh; DELGADO, BALBUENA - Potosino Institute Of Scientific & Technological Researh; KIMBALL, BRUCE - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA); LUNA, LUNA - Forest Research Institute, Agriculture And Livestock; YEPEZ, GONZALEZ - Technical Institute Of Mexico; HUBER, SANNWALD - Potosino Institute Of Scientific & Technological Researh; GARCIA, MOYA - Colegio De Postgraduados; GARATUZA, PAYAN - Technical Institute Of Mexico

Submitted to: Field Crops Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/26/2020
Publication Date: 7/3/2020
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/7010128
Citation: Arrendondo, T., Delgado, B.J., Kimball, B., Luna, L.M., Yepez, G.E., Huber, S.E., Garcia, M.E., Garatuza, P.J. 2020. Late sowing date as an adaptive strategy for rainfed bean production under warming and reduced precipitation in the Mexican Altiplano?. Field Crops Research. 255. Article 107903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2020.107903.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2020.107903

Interpretive Summary: On the Mexican high plateau, major crops of beans and corn are currently limited by late spring hail storms and October frosts. Climate change predictions suggest warmer temperatures and somewhat lower rainfall, with a trend for there to be more rain in the fall. A potential adaption strategy would be to delay planting to later in the season to avoid the spring hail storms while taking advantage of warmer fall temperatures. A test of this strategy was performed by growing beans at current and delayed planting dates with apparatus to restrict rainfall to simulate future projections. Also included was an infrared heater system designed by an ARS retired collaborator from Maricopa, AZ to simulate future global warming. The results showed that the reduced water supply had little effect, whereas the warming with later planting produced substantial increases in bean yield. Thus, the delayed planting strategy is indeed promising for increasing bean yields in this high plateau region of Mexico in the future. This research benefits people in this region of Mexico who mostly grow their own food.

Technical Abstract: On the Mexican high plateau, beans and corn are the principal crops that sustain the diet of rural inhabitants. In most agricultural land, both crops are cultivated under rainfed conditions, facing droughts, storms, hail, and frost which turn this cropping system into a risky food system. Conditions such as average minimum temperature and rainfall intensity are expected to increase under climate change scenarios and with these, the incidence of hail. An adaptive strategy to reduce hail and frost damage in this rainfed region is to delay the seeding time, providing that humidity remains long enough and frost events are delayed. We experimentally imposed a decreased precipitation regime (33%) and increased 2C canopy temperature with respect to ambient in plots seeded with beans to test two seeding dates, on schedule and delayed seeding. Canopy and soil temperatures were significantly higher in warmed and decreased precipitation plots. Results revealed that on schedule seeding date exhibited a higher risk to hailfall, as the crop in the first year was totally destroyed one month after seeding. Late seeded bean plots reached maturation at the end of October. However, warming by 2C induced an overall acceleration of phenology compared to ambient temperature. Also, warming irrespective of incoming precipitation favored greater biomass accumulation per plant organ except for roots. Thus, a seeding date as late as August 1st served to reduce hailstorm damage but in addition warmed plots accelerated phenology and maintained better conditions for maturation and greater bean production.