Authors
P Pathak, Ch Srinivasa Rao, S Raghavendra Rao
Publication date
2002
Journal
Field Screening for Drought Tolerance in Crop Plants with Emphasis on Rice: Proceedings of an International Workshop on Field Screening for Drought Tolerance in Rice, 11-14 Dec 2000, ICRISAT, Patancheru, India. Patancheru 502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India, and the Rockefeller Foundation, New York, New York 10018-2702, USA. 208 pp. Order code CPE 139
Pages
181
Publisher
Abstract
Description
Soil and water are the two fundamental resources of our agriculture and our natural environment. Agricultural scientists, farmers, and other producers generally require knowledge about the water status of the soil in order to increase and sustain food and feed production. The variable amount of water contained in a unit mass or volume of soil and the energy state of water in the soil are important factors affecting the plant growth. Numerous other soil properties depend very strongly upon water content. Included among these are mechanical properties such as consistency, plasticity, strength, compactibility, penetrability, stickiness, and the frequency of field traffic (agricultural implements, people, and animals). In clayey soils, swelling and shrinkage associated with addition and extraction of water change the overall specific volume (or bulk density) of the soil as well as its pore size distribution. Soil water content also governs the air content and gas exchange of the soil, thus affecting the root respiration, the activity of microorganisms, and the chemical state of the soil. Frequently asked questions about soil water are: How dry or wet is the soil? How much moisture can the soil hold and supply to plants to support normal growth and maintain or improved yields? Moisture content is the basic measurement required to answer these questions and there are several direct and indirect methods for its measurement. Since the soil water content varies continuously with time and space, a systematic measurement under field conditions is required. This paper presents some of the field techniques available for measuring soil water, such as gravimetric, neutron …
Scholar articles
P Pathak, CS Rao, SR Rao - Field Screening for Drought Tolerance in Crop Plants …, 2002