Response of lentil to high temperature under variable water supply and carbon dioxide enrichment

Abstract Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) production in arable, Mediterranean-type climates is limited by heat waves and unreliable rainfall. Under climate change scenarios, increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration will increase plant growth; however, the net effect of increasing occurrence and intensity of heat waves and drought is unclear. This study tested the response of combined acute high temperature (>32°C) at the early pod-filling stage and (i) crop-available soil water, and (ii) elevated CO2 on three lentil genotypes in two experiments. The three lentil genotypes selected were commercial cultivar PBA Bolt and two landraces sourced from the Australian Grains Genebank, AGG 71457 and AGG 73838. High soil-water availability (0.42 Mg m–3) throughout the growing season increased yield by 28% compared with low soil-water availability (0.35 Mg m–3). Across contrasting water treatments, there was no difference in patterns of crop response to high temperature during the early pod-filling phase (5 days at 42°C daytime, 25°C night), where yields were reduced by 45%. A significant interaction between high temperature response and genotype was observed, where reduction in grain number was higher for AGG 73838 (0.20% per degree-hour >32°C) than for AGG 71457 (0.07% per degree-hour >32°C) or PBA Bolt (0.10% per degree-hour >32°C). For heat and CO2 effects, there was no significant interaction between high temperature (3 days at 38°C daytime, ambient night temperature) and CO2 treatment on yield components. There was, however, an overall trend of increased biomass, grain number and yield due to elevated CO2. Although non-limiting soil water did not reduce the impact of high temperature in this study, the range in response across genotypes to high temperature supports opportunity for increased adaptation of lentil toward increasing yield stability under effects of climate change.