Late sowing date as an adaptive strategy for rainfed bean production under warming and reduced precipitation in the Mexican Altiplano

Abstract In the Mexican Altiplano, beans and corn are the main crops. Conditions favoring hail -- high daily minimum temperature and high rainfall intensity -- are expected to increase under climate change scenarios. If soil humidity remains suitable for plant growth until October, an adaptive strategy to reduce hail and frost damage consist in delaying sowing date. This strategy could permit crop maturation while frost events are delayed later in the year with climate warming. To test whether such a future climate scenario would have a negative effect on crop yield, we tested two sowing dates for rainfed beans, representing regular and delayed sowing along with a decreased precipitation regime (-30 %) and increased +2 °C canopy temperature with respect to ambient conditions. The first sowing in 2015 was completely destroyed at the end of July. Results for 2015, 2017 and 2018 revealed that overall warming favored greater grain yield than ambient temperature (P