Constraints to root growth of wheat and lupin crops in duplex soils

1992 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 947 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Dracup ◽  
RK Belford ◽  
PJ Gregory
Keyword(s):  
Root Growth ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Lupinus Angustifolius ◽  
Rooting Depth ◽  
Wheat Roots ◽  
High Ph ◽  
Penetrometer Resistance

Duplex soils constitute about 60% of the cropping region of Western Australia and are usually cropped with wheat or lupins. Extensive and deep root growth is particularly important to crop production on these soils, because the nutrient- and water-holding capacities of the A horizon are frequently low. However, properties of the soils and the Mediterranean-type climate impose several constraints to root growth. Physical and chemical properties of duplex soils are spatially variable, leading to pronounced variation (from metres to tens of metres) in the growth of roots and shoots. Both the A and B horizons often impede root growth mechanically, with bulk density and penetrometer resistance frequently exceeding 1.8 Mg/m3 and 2 MPa, respectively. Also, saturated conductivities of the B horizon are often <0.01 m/day, leading to waterlogging. Topsoil acidity is often a problem in lighttextured A horizons, with pH declining about 0.1 unit each decade in yellow duplex soils near Beverley, Western Australia, where pH is already usually <4.8. Conversely, in the B horizon of red-brown earths and, sometimes, yellow duplex soils, pH >7 restricts growth of roots of Lupinus angustifolius. Major constraints to root growth often occur together (e.g. waterlogging with acidity, salinity, or mechanical impedance), and this exacerbates problems of root growth and necessitates identification and amelioration of the particular combination of constraints to improve root growth. Although L. angustifolius is often grown on duplex soils, its roots are not suited to these soils. Rooting depth is restricted, and unlike wheat roots, those of L. angustifolius are poorly adapted to ramifying through the soil for efficient water and nutrient extraction. Lupinus angustifolius is also particularly sensitive to high pH, salinity, and, probably, waterlogging. Other species of lupin which are more tolerant of high pH (e.g. L. pilosus) and waterlogging (e.g. L. luteus) may be more appropriate on duplex soils.

scholarly journals Impact of Bush Burning on Chemical Properties of Some Soil in Igboora, Oyo State, Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Adejumobi
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Soil Chemical Properties ◽  
Rooting Depth ◽  
Physical And Chemical Properties ◽  
Land Clearing ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Burnt Soil ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
And Chemical Properties

Soil is used in agriculture as an anchor and primary nutrient base for plants, and the types of soil and available moisture determine the species of plants that can be cultivated. Bush burning, whether as result of a wildfire or a controlled burning, affects not only the appearance of the landscape, but the quality of the soil. Bush burning method of land clearing is a traditional farming system used as a means of land clearing for crop production. This method of land clearing has both beneficial and detrimental effects on soil physical and chemical properties. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of bush burning on soil chemical properties at different soil depth of 0-30 cm and 30-60 cm respectively base on the rooting depth of crop planted. The experiment was carried out in six selected farms in Igboora, Ibarapa central Local Governmental, Oyo State. The soil sampled were collected from burnt and unburnt experimental soil and analyzed using USDA standard methods for soil analysis for the selected chemical characteristics (pH, Ca2+, Mg2+ Na+. TN and P). Two samples were taken from each burnt and un-burnt locations at depth of 0-30 and 30-60 cm. Paired t-test was used to compare means value of soil chemical properties determined from burnt and un-burnt soil. ANOVA was used for significance difference between soil from burnt and un-burnt soil. pH increased from moderately acidic to slightly acidic, phosphorus content of the soil increased greatly from un-burnt soil to burnt soil at 0-30 cm and 30-60 cm depths from 6.64 to 22.21 ppm and 3.53 to 24.95 ppm, respectively. Similarly, potassium increased from 0.27 to 0.40ppm at 0-30cm depth but decreased from 0.23 to 0.17 ppm at 30-60 cm depth. Nitrogen reduced at both depths from 0.80 to 0.76% and 0.72 to 0.68% respectively. Magnesium also increased from 1.3 cmol/kg to 2.00 cmol/kg and 1.65 to 1.75 cmol/kg at both 0-30 cm and 30-60 cm depth respectively. Whereas calcium showed a reduction from 3.17 to 2.85 cmol/kg and 1.65 to 1.45 cmol/kg at both depths. The variations observed between burnt and un-burnt soil for Ca, Mg, exchangeable acidity, pH, Nitrogen, potassium was significant at p<0.05 probability level. This indicates that bush burning has an impact on soil physical and chemical properties which may affect the suitability of the soil for crop production. Based on this, there is need for environmental education for farmers in the area in order to know the implications of bush burning on soil properties for soil sustainability which will boost food production.

Yield of wheat and canola in the high rainfall zone of south-western Australia in years with and without a transient perched water table

2004 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heping Zhang ◽  
Neil C. Turner ◽  
Michael L. Poole
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Unit Area ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Wheat Roots ◽  
Area Index ◽  
High Rainfall ◽  
Perched Water Table

The yields of wheat and canola in 2 successive years with and without the development of a perched watertable were compared in the high rainfall zone of south-western Australia. In 2001, no perched watertable was observed and wheat and canola yields were close to their estimated potentials. In 2002, a perched watertable developed at less than 30 cm below the soil surface for more than 8 days and at less than 50 cm below the soil surface for at least 30 days at the tillering stage of wheat and at the rosette stage of canola. The air-filled porosity of the soil fell below the critical value of 10% at 10 and 30 cm depth for about 40 days. This reduced the maximum leaf area index of canola by 46% and of wheat by 30%, and reduced the shoot dry matter of wheat at flowering by 27% and by 40% at podding in canola compared with those in 2001. The growth of the wheat roots was constrained at depths from 50-90 cm from the soil surface in 2002 compared with 2001. However, the roots of canola and wheat were able to grow to at least 1.4 m in both 2001 and 2002. In both years, a much higher proportion (>10%) of roots was present in the clay subsoil compared with previous reports in south-western Australia and enabled the crops to utilise a greater amount of water from the clay subsoil. The wheat yield in 2002 was 37% lower than in 2001 and well below the potential, largely as a result of a reduced tiller number per plant and ears per unit area. Despite the greater reduction in dry matter in canola than in wheat in 2002, the seed yield of canola was 17% higher in 2002 than in 2001. Canola, an indeterminate crop, was able to respond to the late rain that occurred in 2002 compared with 2001 and produced a significantly higher seed number per unit area. In 2002, grain size in wheat was 25% larger than in 2001, but this increase was insufficient to compensate for the yield loss resulting from the fewer ears per unit area. It is concluded that early transient perched watertable induced subsurface waterlogging, and that the subsurface waterlogging can be a major constraint to crop growth in the high rainfall region of southwestern Australia, and that reducing waterlogging could be a key to achieving higher crop production.

scholarly journals Predicting Cereal Root Disease in Western Australia Using Soil DNA and Environmental Parameters

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (8) ◽  
pp. 1069-1079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant J. Poole ◽  
Martin Harries ◽  
D. Hüberli ◽  
S. Miyan ◽  
W. J. MacLeod ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Gaeumannomyces Graminis ◽  
Wheat Roots ◽  
Soil Dna ◽  
Root Diseases ◽  
Pathogen Dna ◽  
Root Health

Root diseases have long been prevalent in Australian grain-growing regions, and most management decisions to reduce the risk of yield loss need to be implemented before the crop is sown. The levels of pathogens that cause the major root diseases can be measured using DNA-based services such as PreDicta B. Although these pathogens are often studied individually, in the field they often occur as mixed populations and their combined effect on crop production is likely to vary across diverse cropping environments. A 3-year survey was conducted covering most cropping regions in Western Australia, utilizing PreDicta B to determine soilborne pathogen levels and visual assessments to score root health and incidence of individual crop root diseases caused by the major root pathogens, including Rhizoctonia solani (anastomosis group [AG]-8), Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici (take-all), Fusarium pseudograminearum, and Pratylenchus spp. (root-lesion nematodes) on wheat roots for 115, 50, and 94 fields during 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively. A predictive model was developed for root health utilizing autumn and summer rainfall and soil temperature parameters. The model showed that pathogen DNA explained 16, 5, and 2% of the variation in root health whereas environmental parameters explained 22, 11, and 1% of the variation in 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively. Results showed that R. solani AG-8 soil pathogen DNA, environmental soil temperature, and rainfall parameters explained most of the variation in the root health. This research shows that interactions between environment and pathogen levels before seeding can be utilized in predictive models to improve assessment of risk from root diseases to assist growers to plan more profitable cropping programs.

Restricted growth of lupin and wheat roots in the sandy A horizon of a yellow duplex soil

1993 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1273 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Dracup ◽  
PJ Gregory ◽  
RK Belford
Keyword(s):  
Root Growth ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Frictional Resistance ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Root Penetration ◽  
Good Growth ◽  
Wheat Roots ◽  
Poor Growth ◽  
Local Soil

Yellow duplex soils are the dominant soil type in the cropping region of Western Australia, but crop yields on these soils are often variable and below potential. We are seeking to understand the causes of the spatially variable crop growth, and a preliminary study conducted in 1988 at a site east of Beverley indicated that variable shoot growth was associated with variable early (< 6 weeks after sowing) root growth in the sandy A horizon. The present study aimed to identify the constraints to early root growth by locating the position in the A horizon where root growth becomes restricted and measuring the local soil properties. In poor growth areas, root penetration slowed markedly at about 15 cm (about 2 weeks after sowing), while in the good growth areas roots continued to grow downwards at about 8 mm day-1 for lupin and 4 mm day-' for wheat. The soil was a particularly difficult environment for root growth, with generally low pH, low K and B, low porosity and aeration and high strength. Roots in poor growth areas appeared to experience greater mechanical impedance than in the good areas, most likely due to much lower clay contents leading to higher frictional resistance to particle movement or less stability of soil pores created by past roots or fauna.

scholarly journals Root abundance of maize in conventionally-tilled and zero-tilled soils of Argentina

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 769-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Angel Taboada ◽  
Carina Rosa Alvarez
Keyword(s):  
Root Growth ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Maize Root ◽  
Silty Clay ◽  
Clay Loam ◽  
Silty Clay Loam ◽  
Penetrometer Resistance ◽  
Maize Roots ◽  
Root Abundance ◽  
Different Soils

Maize root growth is negatively affected by compacted layers in the surface (e.g. agricultural traffic) and subsoil layers (e.g. claypans). Both kinds of soil mechanical impedances often coexist in maize fields, but the combined effects on root growth have seldom been studied. Soil physical properties and maize root abundance were determined in three different soils of the Rolling Pampa of Argentina, in conventionally-tilled (CT) and zero-tilled (ZT) fields cultivated with maize. In the soil with a light Bt horizon (loamy Typic Argiudoll, Chivilcoy site), induced plough pans were detected in CT plots at a depth of 0-0.12 m through significant increases in bulk density (1.15 to 1.27 Mg m-3) and cone (tip angle of 60 º) penetrometer resistance (7.18 to 9.37 MPa in summer from ZT to CT, respectively). This caused a reduction in maize root abundance of 40-80 % in CT compared to ZT plots below the induced pans. Two of the studied soils had hard-structured Bt horizons (clay pans), but in only one of them (silty clay loam Abruptic Argiudoll, Villa Lía site) the expected penetrometer resistance increases (up to 9 MPa) were observed with depth. In the other clay pan soil (silty clay loam Vertic Argiudoll, Pérez Millán site), penetrometer resistance did not increase with depth but reached 14.5 MPa at 0.075 and 0.2 m depth in CT and ZT plots, respectively. However, maize root abundance was stratified in the first 0.2 m at the Villa Lía and Pérez Millán sites. There, the hard Bt horizons did not represent an absolute but a relative mechanical impedance to maize roots, by the observed root clumping through desiccation cracks.

scholarly journals Root anatomical traits contribute to deeper rooting of maize under compacted field conditions

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (14) ◽  
pp. 4243-4257
Author(s):  
Dorien J Vanhees ◽  
Kenneth W Loades ◽  
A Glyn Bengough ◽  
Sacha J Mooney ◽  
Jonathan P Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Genotypic Variation ◽  
Cortical Cell ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Field Conditions ◽  
Root Anatomy ◽  
Rooting Depth ◽  
Field Site ◽  
Compacted Soil ◽  
Penetrometer Resistance

Abstract To better understand the role of root anatomy in regulating plant adaptation to soil mechanical impedance, 12 maize lines were evaluated in two soils with and without compaction treatments under field conditions. Penetrometer resistance was 1–2 MPa greater in the surface 30 cm of the compacted plots at a water content of 17–20% (v/v). Root thickening in response to compaction varied among genotypes and was negatively associated with rooting depth at one field site under non-compacted plots. Thickening was not associated with rooting depth on compacted plots. Genotypic variation in root anatomy was related to rooting depth. Deeper-rooting plants were associated with reduced cortical cell file number in combination with greater mid cortical cell area for node 3 roots. For node 4, roots with increased aerenchyma were deeper roots. A greater influence of anatomy on rooting depth was observed for the thinner root classes. We found no evidence that root thickening is related to deeper rooting in compacted soil; however, anatomical traits are important, especially for thinner root classes.

Assessing the importance of subsoil constraints to yield of wheat and its implications for yield improvement

2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 1043 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. K. McDonald ◽  
J. D. Taylor ◽  
A. Verbyla ◽  
H. Kuchel
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Root Growth ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Al Toxicity ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
High Ph ◽  
Yield Variation ◽  
Root Angle ◽  
Seminal Root Angle

Many of the soils in the Australian cereal belt have subsoils with chemical and physical properties that restrict root growth, which limits water use and yield. On alkaline sodic soils salinity, high pH, high available boron (B), deficiencies of zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn) and high soil strength occur commonly and aluminium (Al) toxicity restricts root growth on acid soils. While the effects of individual subsoil constraints have been studied there is some debate about the relative importance to yield of the different soil stresses across the region. To address this issue yield variation among a set of 52 varieties of bread wheat was analysed using yield data from 233 trials conducted over 12 years. The trials were conducted in all mainland States but the majority were in South Australia and Western Australia. Each variety was characterised for its response to high B, high pH, Al toxicity, salinity, deficiencies in Zn and Mn and resistance to root lesion nematode (Pratylenchus neglectus), root growth through strong soil, seminal root angle, carbon isotope discrimination (CID) and maturity. This data was then used to examine the contribution of each trait to the genetic variation in yield at each of the 233 trials. The contribution of a specific trait to the genetic variation in yield at each site was used to infer the importance of a particular constraint to yield at that site. Of the traits linked to soil constraints, salinity tolerance, (measured by Na+ exclusion) was most often associated with genetic variation in grain yield (34% of all experiments), followed by tolerance to high Al (26%) and B tolerance (21%). Tolerance to low Zn and Mn were not consistently associated with yield variation. However, maturity was the trait that was most frequently associated with yield variation (51% of experiments), although the relative importance of early and late flowering varied among the States. Yield variation was largely associated with early flowering in Western Australia and the relative importance of late flowering increased as trials moved eastward into South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. Narrow, rather than wide, seminal root angle was more commonly associated with high yield (25% of sites) and there was little evidence of any regional pattern in the importance of root angle. CID was important in 18% of trials with a low CID being most commonly associated with high yields. The yield advantage at sites where a trait contributed significantly to yield variation ranged from ~15% for Na+ exclusion and B tolerance to 4% for tolerance to high pH. The analysis has provided an assessment of the relative importance of a range of traits associated with adaptation to environments where subsoil constraints are likely to affect yield and has indicated patterns in the importance and effects of these traits that may be linked to regional variation in rainfall and soils.

scholarly journals Influence of Atomization Nozzles and Spraying Intervals on Growth, Biomass Yield, and Nutrient Uptake of Butter-Head Lettuce under Aeroponics System

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Mazhar H. Tunio ◽  
Jianmin Gao ◽  
Imran A. Lakhiar ◽  
Kashif A. Solangi ◽  
Waqar A. Qureshi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Root Growth ◽  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Nutrient Solution ◽  
Biomass Yield ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Growth Ratio ◽  
Shoot Ratio ◽  
Droplet Sizes ◽  
Root To Shoot Ratio

The atomized nutrient solution droplet sizes and spraying intervals can impact the chemical properties of the nutrient solution, biomass yield, root-to-shoot ratio and nutrient uptake of aeroponically cultivated plants. In this study, four different nozzles having droplet sizes N1 = 11.24, N2 = 26.35, N3 = 17.38 and N4 = 4.89 µm were selected and misted at three nutrient solution spraying intervals of 30, 45 and 60 min, with a 5 min spraying time. The measured parameters were power of hydrogen (pH) and electrical conductivity (EC) values of the nutrient solution, shoot and root growth, ratio of roots to shoots (fresh and dry), biomass yield and nutrient uptake. The results indicated that the N1 presented significantly lower changes in chemical properties than those of N2, N3 and N4, resulting in stable lateral root growth and increased biomass yield. Also, the root-to-shoot ratio significantly increased with increasing spraying interval using N1 and N4 nozzles. The N1 nozzle also revealed a significant effect on the phosphorous, potassium and magnesium uptake by the plants misted at proposed nutrient solution spraying intervals. However, the ultrasonic nozzle showed a nonsignificant effect on all measured parameters with respect to spraying intervals. In the last, this research experiment validates the applicability of air-assisted nozzle (N1) misting at a 30-min spraying interval and 5 min of spraying time for the cultivation of butter-head lettuce in aeroponic systems.

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