Soil physical properties, plant growth, and water availability in the soil are factors that interact in response to changes in soil structure. Knowing how these factors interact in field conditions is of great importance for management of soil compaction for crop yield. In this paper, three levels of soil compaction, with and without irrigation, were assessed in regard to growth and yield of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). The probability of interaction between soil compaction and irrigation was 88 % for leaf area index (LAI) and 86 % for yield. However, water availability led to distinct responses between growth and grain yield at different levels of soil compaction. From the lowest to the highest level of soil compaction, the increase in soil water availability due to irrigation (120 mm) resulted in decreasing gains in LAI (1.8, 0.8, and 0.3) and increasing gains in grain yield (695, 1042, and 1198 kg ha-1). Thus, with the increase in soil compaction, the soil water content exhibits decreasing control on plant growth, but the yield remains more elastic than growth. Thus, the compensation in common bean growth through the increase in water content declined as the state of compaction increased, but compensation in grain yield was greater than in growth. Consequently, the use of different plant characteristic provides different critical levels to physical indicators of soil compaction. Thus, the choice of irrigating and/or chiseling depends on knowing how the harvested part of a plant responds to compaction and soil water availability in combination.
water deficit; soil bulk density; soil resistance to penetration
