Effect of inorganic fertilizer and farmyard manure on soil physical properties, root distribution, and water-use efficiency of soybean in Vertisols of central India

In agriculture, water has become a limiting factor because of the effects of climate change felt by farmers. This situation seriously compromises agricultural production through pockets of drought, delayed and early cessation of rains and then an increase in the length of the dry season. Aims: This study aims to evaluate the effect of tillage and vegetative mulch on soil physical properties and maize water use efficiency in ferralitic soil of southern Benin. Study Design: The Factorial Complete Randomized Block Design with 4 repetitions was implemented. Place and Duration of Study: The experimental site is located at Allada, in southern Benin, and conducted between May 2017 and July 2017. Methodology: Tillage (No-tillage, flat tillage) and straw mulch rate (0%, 50%, 75% soil cover) and their interaction was been tested during this study. The physical properties of soil and maize water use efficiency were determined. Results: Tillage significantly reduced soil temperature by 2.65% and improved soil permeability by 60%. Tillage also significantly improved water use efficiency for maize grain from 3.88 to 7.88 kg.mm-1.ha-1 and for maize biomass from 12.67to 23.31 kg.mm-1.ha-1. Mulching significantly improved soil moisture from 11.54% to 13.13%, water use efficiency for maize grain from 4.26 to 7.58kg.mm-1.ha-1 and for maize biomass from 14.50 to 22.05 kg.mm-1.ha-1. Mulching also significantly reduced soil temperature by 11%. The combination of tillage and mulching significantly improved water use efficiency for maize grain and biomass production. The highest water use efficiency (8.87 kg.mm-1.ha-1 for maize grain and 25.17 kg.mm-1.ha-1 for maize biomass) was achieved with tillage combined with mulching at 75% soil cover. The interaction between these two factors significantly reduced soil temperature by 11.30% (tillage combined with mulch at 75% soil cover) compared to control (no-tillage and no-mulch). Conclusion: This study showed that tillage and mulching at 50% or 75% soil cover improves soil physical properties and water use efficiency for maize production in the context of climate change.

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Evaluation of Water Uptake and Root Distribution of Cherry Trees Under Different Irrigation Methods

Water ◽

10.3390/w11030495 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 495 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Pingfeng Li ◽

Huang Tan ◽

Jiahang Wang ◽

Xiaoqing Cao ◽

Peiling Yang

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Absorption ◽

Root System ◽

Water Use ◽

Irrigation Water ◽

Drip Irrigation ◽

Root Distribution ◽

Surface Irrigation ◽

Irrigation Methods ◽

Use Efficiency

Although water-saving measures are increasingly being adopted in orchards, little is known about how different irrigation methods enhance water use efficiency at the root system level. To study the allocation of water sources of water absorption by cherry roots under two irrigation methods, surface irrigation and drip irrigation, oxygen isotope tracing and root excavation were used in this study. We found that different irrigation methods have different effects on the average δ18O content of soil water in the soil profile. The IsoSource model was applied to calculate the contribution rate of water absorption by cherry roots under these irrigation methods. During the drought period in spring (also a key period of water consumption for cherry trees), irrigation water was the main source of water absorbed by cherry roots. In summer, cherry roots exhibited a wide range of water absorption sources. In this case, relative to the surface irrigation mode, the drip irrigation mode demonstrated higher irrigation water use efficiency. After two years of the above experiment, root excavation was used to analyze the effects of these irrigation methods on the distribution pattern of roots. We found that root distribution is mainly affected by soil depth. The root system indexes in 10–30 cm soil layer differ significantly from those in other soil layers. Drip irrigation increased the root length density (RLD) and root surface area (RSA) in the shallow soil. There was no significant difference in root biomass density (RBD) and root volume ratio (RVR) between the two irrigation treatments. The effects of these irrigation methods on the 2D distribution of cherry RBD, RLD, RSA and RVR, which indicated that the cherry roots were mainly concentrated in the horizontal depths of 20 to 100 cm, which was related to the irrigation wet zone. In the current experiment, more than 85% of cherry roots were distributed in the space with horizontal radius of 0 to 100 cm and vertical depth of 0 to 80 cm; above 95% of cherry roots were distributed in the space with the horizontal radius of 0 to 150 cm and the vertical depth of 0 to 80 cm. Compared with surface irrigation, drip irrigation makes RLD and RSA more concentrated in the horizontal range of 30–100 cm and vertical range of 0–70 cm.

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Water‐Use Efficiency and Its Relation to Crop Canopy Area, Stomatal Regulation, and Root Distribution 1

Agronomy Journal ◽

10.2134/agronj1973.00021962006500020007x ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 65 (2) ◽

pp. 207-211 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

I. D. Teare ◽

E. T. Kanemasu ◽

W. L. Powers ◽

H. S. Jacobs

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Root Distribution ◽

Crop Canopy ◽

Stomatal Regulation ◽

Canopy Area ◽

Use Efficiency

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Improving Water Use Efficiency by Optimizing the Root Distribution Patterns under Varying Drip Emitter Density and Drought Stress for Cherry Tomato

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11010003 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 3

Author(s):

Abdul Shabbir ◽

Hanping Mao ◽

Ikram Ullah ◽

Noman Ali Buttar ◽

Muhammad Ajmal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Root Distribution ◽

Deficit Irrigation ◽

Distribution Patterns ◽

Root Weight ◽

Cherry Tomato ◽

Cropping Season ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Cropping Seasons

The spatial distribution of root systems in the soil has major impacts on soil water and nutrient uptake and ultimately crop yield. This research aimed to optimize the root distribution patterns, growth, and yield of cherry tomato by using a number of emitters per plant. A randomized complete block design technique was adopted by selecting eight treatments with two irrigation regimes and four levels of emitters under greenhouse conditions. The experiment results showed that the root distribution extended over the entire pot horizontally and shifted vertically upwards with increased emitter density. The deficit irrigation resulted in reduced horizontal root extension and shifted the root concentrations deeper. Notably, tomato plants with two emitters per plant and deficit irrigation treatment showed an optimal root distribution compared to the other treatments, showing wider and deeper dispersion measurements and higher root length density and root weight density through the soil with the highest benefit–cost ratio (1.3 and 1.1 cm cm−3, 89.8 and 77.7 µg cm−3, and 4.20 and 4.24 during spring–summer and fall-winter cropping seasons, respectively). The increases in yield and water use efficiency (due to increased yield) were 19% and 18.8%, respectively, for spring–summer cropping season and 11.5% and 11.8%, respectively, for fall–winter cropping season, with two emitters per plant over a single emitter. The decrease in yield was 5.3% and 4%, and increase in water use efficiency (due to deficit irrigation) was 26.2% and 27.9% for spring-summer and fall-winter cropping seasons, respectively, by deficit irrigation over full irrigation. Moreover, it was observed that two, three, and four emitters per plant had no significant effects on yield and water use efficiency. Thus, it was concluded that two emitters per plant with deficit irrigation is optimum under greenhouse conditions for the cultivation of potted cherry tomatoes, considering the root morphology, root distribution, dry matter production, yield, water use efficiency, and economic analysis.

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