Maghembe, Neema Abdallah2026-03-282026-03-281999https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/20.500.14820/7461DissertationResearch was conducted to study the performance of three common bean (Phaseohis vulgaris L.) cultivars grown under stressed and non-stressed water conditions. Two experiments were conducted at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) located at 6°.5’ latitude South, 37°.3’ longitude East; and 525m a.s.l The first experiment was conducted under screen-house conditions between March and May, 1998; while the second experiment was conducted under field conditions in May through August, 1998. The experimental design used was a split plot with four replicates. The main treatments were irrigated and non-irrigated. The subtreatments were three common bean cultivars. In the screen-house experiment, ten litre plastic pots filled with sandy clay loam soil were used for planting. Under the field experiment, the size of each subtreatment was 10.8m2 and the crop was spaced at 60 by 20cm. Sulphate of ammonia and triple supper phosphate were applied at 30kg N and 25kg P per hectare, respectively. Data were collected from underground and above ground plant parts at first flowering (Rl), 50% flowering (R4), physiological maturity (R8) and harvest maturity (R9). Highly significant effects of irrigation treatments, cultivars and their interactions were obtained at all sampling times except at R1 when the main treatments had just been applied. Non-irrigated plants completed their life cycle earlier than irrigated plants. Stressed cultivars had severe leaf curling, wilting and drooping between R4 and R8. Non­ stressed cultivars had significantly higher plants heights, leaf area, root length, total biomass and seed yield than drought-stressed plants. It was also noted that stress levels differ from one cultivar to another. Cultivar SUA 90 gave the highest total biomass and seed yield in both experiments under both maintreatments. This was followed by "Rojo" and finally Canadian Wonder. The BEANGRO crop simulation model indicated that root length, root weight, leaf weight, and specific leaf area were very important parameters to consider when evaluating bean genotypes for drought tolerance.enCultivars grownSoil water deficitsCommon bean (Phaseohis vulgaris L.)SubtreatmentThesis