The effect of three water table management systems on the physical-morphological adaptation of snap beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, L. ), cv. BAT 477 to flooding tolerance was studied and the relative influence of the main physical, chemical and biological interfering factors discussed. The trial was conducted at ESALQ/USP, Piracicaba (SP) Brazil, from March to June, 1999, under maximal simulation of natural low land conditions. A 1.000 L concrete box was used as plot, under a completely randomized design, with four treatments and five replications. After induction at vegetative growth stage, management efficiency was tested by a short-term waterlogging event at a reproductive stage. The biometric characteristics of growth, although displaying damage caused by hypoxia, showed the plant used morphological (adventitious roots and lenticels), as well as biological (N fixation) and physical-morphological (diffusion resistance and transpiration) adaptive mechanisms. On the other hand, the yield biometric characteristics showed that the water table maintained at 15 cm, as well as the gradual elevation, although without any significant yield difference in relation to no inductive management, were effective, allowing the plant to complete its phenological cycle, resulting in better grain quality. Alternating relative biometric advantages between the two management systems caused difference in yield, suggesting that the use of longer-cycle cultivars under hypoxia is more advantageous.
drainage; low land; mesophycs plant; succession