Abstract
Water table contribution to plant water use is a significant element in improving water use efficiency (WUE) for agricultural water management. In this study, lysimeter experiments were conducted in a controlled greenhouse environment to investigate the response of soybean water uptake and growth parameters under four different water table depths (WTD) (30, 50, 70, and 90 cm). Soybean crop water use, WUE, and root distribution under the different WTD were examined. For 30, 50, 70, and 90 cm of WTD treatments, the average water table contributions were 89, 83, 79, and 72%; the grain yields were 15.1, 10.5, 14.1, and 17.2 g/lys.; and the WUEs were 0.22, 0.18, 0.25, and 0.31 g/lys./cm, respectively. Further analysis of the root mass and proportional distribution among the different soil layers illustrated that the lysimeters with 70 and 90 cm WTD had greater root mass with higher root distribution at 40–75 cm of the soil layer. The results indicated that 70 and 90 cm of constant WTD can yield higher grain yield and biomasses with greater WUE and better root distribution than the irrigated or shallow WTD treatments.
Highlights
IntroductionUrbanization, industrialization, and environmental pollution are some of the major reasons for water shortages in which water can no longer be considered as an infinite source [1,2]
The world population is growing dramatically, and water scarcity is becoming a challenge throughout the world, to the extent that nearly 40% of the population experience water shortage.the rate of water consumption increases at twice the rate of the world population growth.Urbanization, industrialization, and environmental pollution are some of the major reasons for water shortages in which water can no longer be considered as an infinite source [1,2].Since a significant portion of the world’s water resources are used for agricultural production, well-managed agricultural water resources and improved water use efficiency (WUE) provides opportunities to conserve limited water resources [3]
For 30, 50, 70, and 90 cm of water table depths (WTD), the highest to lowest proportion of average water table contributions to soybean crop were determined as 89%, 83%, 79%, and 72%. These results showed that the depth of water table is the main determinant factor for crop water use
Summary
Urbanization, industrialization, and environmental pollution are some of the major reasons for water shortages in which water can no longer be considered as an infinite source [1,2]. Since a significant portion of the world’s water resources are used for agricultural production, well-managed agricultural water resources and improved water use efficiency (WUE) provides opportunities to conserve limited water resources [3]. Water use for agricultural purposes accounts for more than 80% of all water withdrawals in arid and semi-arid regions such as Asia and Africa [1]. The water use in agriculture is considerably higher than the combination of industrial and municipal sectors. Improving WUE in agriculture could be an effective way to save water
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