Water deficit effects on sweet corn. I. Water use, radiation use efficiency, growth, and yield

2001 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Stone ◽  
D. R. Wilson ◽  
J. B. Reid ◽  
R. N. Gillespie

The responses of sweet corn biomass and yield to timing and severity of water deficit were determined in an experiment using a mobile rainshelter. Six irrigation treatments were applied such that plots experienced: (1) no water deficit; (2) full water deficit; (3) moderate pre-silking deficit; (4) severe pre-silking deficit; (5) moderate post-silking deficit; or (6) severe post-silking deficit. Drought was quantified using the concept of potential soil moisture deficit, which was calculated from climatic data. Potential soil moisture deficit can be related simply to a wide range of plant performance variables, making it possible to compare the relative importance of variables in determining the overall response of the crop to drought. For all treatments, yield was related strongly to biomass, especially that accumulated after silking. Biomass, in turn, was reduced by water deficit, mainly because of reduced radiation use efficiency, but also because of reduced total radiation interception, particularly in early deficit treatments. Both water use efficiency and transpiration efficiency increased with water deficit, even though soil evaporation as a proportion of total water use also increased with deficit. There was no stage of crop development at which yield was particularly sensitive to water deficit, although yield components changed with timing of deficit. Importantly, measures of potential soil moisture deficit integrated the effects of timing and severity of drought, making it possible to simply and mechanistically account for the effects of water deficit on biomass and particularly yield.

2003 ◽  
Vol 141 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 285-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. RAJIN ANWAR ◽  
B. A. McKENZIE ◽  
G. D. HILL

The present study was conducted from 1998 to 2000, to evaluate seasonal water use and soil-water extraction by Kabuli chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). The response of three cultivars to eight irrigation treatments in 1998/99 and four irrigation treatments in 1999/2000 at different growth stages was studied on a Wakanui silt loam soil in Canterbury, New Zealand. Evapotranspiration was measured with a neutron moisture meter and water use efficiency (WUE) was examined at crop maturity. Water use was about 426 mm for the fully irrigated treatment and at least 175 mm for the non-irrigated plants. There was a significant correlation (P<0·001) between water use and biomass yield (R2=0·80) and water use and seed yield (R2=0·75). There were also highly significant (P<0·001) interacting effects of irrigation, sowing date and cultivar on WUE and the trend was similar to that for seed yield. The estimated WUE ranged from 22–29 kg DM/ha per mm and 10–13 kg seed yield/ha per mm water use.The three chickpea cultivars were capable of drawing water from depths greater than 60 cm. However, most of the water use (0·49–0·93 mm/10 cm soil layer per day) came from the top 0–30 cm, where most of the active roots were concentrated. The study has shown that using actual evapotranspiration and water-use efficiency, the biomass yield and seed yield of Kabuli chickpeas can be accurately predicted in Canterbury. Soil water shortage has been identified as a major constraint to increasing chickpea production. Drought was quantified using the concept of maximum potential soil moisture deficit (Dpmax) calculated from climate data. Drought responses of yield, phenology, radiation use efficiency and yield components were determined, and were highly correlated with Dpmax. The maximum potential soil moisture deficit increased from about 62 mm (irrigated throughout) to about 358 mm (dryland plots). Chickpea yield, intercepted radiation and the number of pods per plant decreased linearly as the Dpmax increased. Penman's irrigation model accurately described the response of yield to drought. The limiting deficit for this type of soil was c. 165 and 84 mm for the November and December sowings in 1998/99 and 170 mm in 1999/2000. Beyond these limiting deficits, yield declined linearly with maximum potential soil moisture deficits of up to 358 mm. There was little evidence to support the idea of a moisture sensitive period in these Kabuli chickpea cultivars. Yield was increased by irrigating at any stage of crop development, provided that the water was needed as determined by the potential soil moisture deficit and sowing early in the season.


2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rogier P.O. Schulte ◽  
Iolanda Simo ◽  
Rachel E. Creamer ◽  
Nicholas M. Holden

Abstract The Hybrid Soil Moisture Deficit (HSMD) model has been used for a wide range of applications, including modelling of grassland productivity and utilisation, assessment of agricultural management opportunities such as slurry spreading, predicting nutrient emissions to the environment and risks of pathogen transfer to water. In the decade since its publication, various ad hoc modifications have been developed and the recent publication of the Irish Soil Information System has facilitated improved assessment of the spatial soil moisture dynamics. In this short note, we formally present a new version of the model (HSMD2.0), which includes two new soil drainage classes, as well as an optional module to account for the topographic wetness index at any location. In addition, we present a new Indicative Soil Drainage Map for Ireland, based on the Irish Soil Classification system, developed as part of the Irish Soil Information System.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 579-587
Author(s):  
Denis de Pinho Sousa ◽  
Paulo Jorge Oliveira Ponte de Souza ◽  
Vivian Dielly da Silva Farias ◽  
Hildo Giuseppe Caldas Nunes ◽  
Denílson Pontes Ferreira ◽  
...  

Abstract This study aims to determine the cowpea efficiency in absorbing and using solar radiation according to different irrigation depths under the climatic conditions of the northeast of Pará State. The experiment was carried out on 2014 and 2016 in an experimental design of randomized blocks, which consisted in six blocks with four treatments, in which different irrigation depths the reproductive phase were applied, as follows: T100, T50, T25 e T0, that corresponded to 100%, 50%, 25% e 0% of the crop evapotranspiration, respectively. The absorbed photosynthetically active radiation, leaf area index (LAI), total aerial dry matter (TADM) and grain yield were measured. The extinction coefficient (k) was obtained by nonlinear regression between the fraction of absorbed PAR (fPARinter) and the LAI. The radiation use efficiency (RUE) was calculated by linear regression between the TADM and the accumulated absorbed PAR. The water deficit imposed by the treatments had a significant influence on the LAI, TADM and cowpea yields. The water deficit did not significantly influenced k – it ranged between 0.83 for T100 and 0.70 for T0. The RUE showed significant behaviors regarding the treatments with adequate water supply and treatments under water deficit, ranging from 2.23 to 1.64 g·MJ-1, respectively.


2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 383 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Collino ◽  
J. L. Dardanelli ◽  
M. J. De Luca ◽  
R. W. Racca

Alfalfa, the most important forage crop in Argentina, shows considerable variability in forage production caused by variations in inter-annual rainfall and intra-annual radiation and temperature regimes. Such variation may affect radiation use efficiency and water use efficiency. This paper seeks to study the effects of temperature and water availability on radiation use efficiency and water use efficiency. We conducted the experiment in Córdoba, Argentina, under irrigated and droughted conditions. Drought was imposed by mobile rainout shelters during 3 consecutive periods. We measured forage, intercepted photosynthetically active radiation and water use to calculate radiation use efficiency and water use efficiency between cuttings. Under irrigation, radiation use efficiency and water use efficiency normalised by daytime vapour pressure deficit, were not limited by mean temperature above 21.3 and 21.9°C, respectively. Below those critical values, both variables decreased consistently with temperature decrements. Under drought, radiation use efficiency tended to decrease and water use efficiency tended to increase. In addition, the relationship between relative dry matter and relative water use was not linear, as reported in previous studies for annual crops.


2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 234 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. O. Sadras ◽  
G. J. Rebetzke

Here we propose that the perspective of phenotypic plasticity can enhance our understanding of the role of fertile tillers in accommodating environmental variation. We tested the hypothesis that the plasticity of yield correlates with the plasticity of ear number using free-tillering (–tin) and reduced-tillering (+tin) sister wheat lines in two genetic backgrounds, Lang and Silverstar. Crops were grown in 10 rainfed environments resulting from the combination of seasons, sites, nitrogen rates, and sowing dates. The combination of lines and environments generated a range from 157 to 357 ears m–2 at harvest, and a yield range from 1.9 to 4.2 t ha–1. Plasticity was quantified with two methods, slopes of reaction norms and variance ratios; both methods returned the same ranking of lines for both ear number and yield. The tin allele reduced the plasticity of both ear number and yield in Lang but not in Silverstar. The reduced plasticity associated with the tin allele in Lang had two components: a small reduction in ear number under low-yielding conditions, and a large reduction in the capacity to respond to higher yielding environments. Consistent with our working hypothesis, plasticity of yield and plasticity of ear number were correlated (R2 = 0.81, P = 0.01). Plasticity of ear number was associated with the plasticity of shoot biomass at harvest (R2 = 0.74, P = 0.006), and plasticity of biomass was associated with the plasticity of yield (R2 = 0.86, P = 0.0009). This suggests that the environmental responsiveness of yield was partially mediated by the environmental responsiveness of fertile tillers. We found positive correlations between plasticity of ear number and plasticity of several traits including biomass, radiation-use efficiency and water-use efficiency, and a negative correlation between plasticity of ear number and plasticity of seeds per ear. Ear number per se was unrelated to biomass, radiation-use efficiency, water-use efficiency, and seeds per ear. We conclude that a dual focus on traits per se and their plasticity is a fruitful approach to understand the phenotype, particularly when genotype × environment interaction is large.


1993 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1351 ◽  
Author(s):  
PJ Goyne ◽  
SP Milroy ◽  
JM Lilley ◽  
JM Hare

Dry matter production and utilization of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was studied for barley (Hordeurn vulgare L.) in the field at Hermitage Research Station, Qld. In 1990, four cultivars (Gilbert, Tallon, Grimmett, Skiff) were sown at three times and grown with non-limiting soil moisture. In 1991, soil moisture limitations were imposed on one sowing of the cultivar Grimmett. The radiation extinction coefficient (k) was 0.41�0.02 and did not vary with cultivar, time of sowing or soil moisture availability. Radiation use efficiency (RUE) (based on absorbed PAR and above-ground dry matter) did not change with time of sowing but did vary between cultivars. RUE was highest for Gilbert (2.90�0.10 g MJ-1), while the other three cultivars averaged 2.60�0.04 g MJ-l. RUE of Grimmett was significantly lower in 1991 (1.48�0.07 g MJ-1) than in 1990 (2.60�0.07g MJ-1), but soil moisture differences in 1991 did not significantly affect RUE. Several factors with possible links with RUE were examined and discussed. Of the variables examined those which showed the strongest relationships with RUE were average daily vapour pressure deficit and average daily minimum temperature.


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