Growth and Eco-physiological Performances of Soybean under Drought Stress Condition

The effect of soil water stress on the morphological and physiological characteristics of the seedling stage of the soybean had been studied. The results showed that soybean leaf photosynthesis rate, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance had a downward trend as drought stress increased. The chlorophyll content and leaf water content showed the low-high-low trend with the time course of stress. There were large differences in dry matter accumulation among treatments. At the initial stage of drought stress, the effect of stress on dry matter partitioning ratio was very little, however, as stress increased, the difference increased too. As stress became stronger and advanced, proline content increased significantly, specifically under severe water stress.