Agricultural Water Management最新文献

{"title":"Estimating and forecasting daily reference crop evapotranspiration in China with temperature-driven deep learning models","authors":"Jia Zhang ,&nbsp;Yimin Ding ,&nbsp;Lei Zhu ,&nbsp;Yukuai Wan ,&nbsp;Mingtang Chai ,&nbsp;Pengpeng Ding","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109268","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109268","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurately estimating and forecasting short-term daily reference crop evapotranspiration (ET_o) is crucial for real-time irrigation decision-making and regional agricultural water management. Although the Penman-Monteith formula shows high accuracy, the requirement for excessive meteorological factors by this formula restricts its practical application. Previous studies have developed many ET_o estimation models using deep learning (DL) algorithm, which only require temperature data as input. Subsequently, temperature forecast data is used to drive these models for ET_o forecasting. However, these models are often limited to the specific locations of their training sets due to significant climatic variations across regions. Besides, weather forecasts at different lead days typically exhibit different biases. It remains unclear whether train ET_o forecasting models for different lead times will enhance the overall forecasting accuracy. Hence, in this study, we innovatively utilized an extensive array of weather forecast data to develop customized ET_o forecasting models for each day of the next 15 days, while incorporating both location and seasonal features into the model training procedure. Five deep learning (DL) models were employed in this study, namely Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Bidirectional LSTM (Bi-LSTM), Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), Convolutional Neural Networks Bi-LSTM (CNN-BiLSTM), and CNN-BiLSTM-Attention. The results revealed that the differences in the performance of estimating ET_o among the DL models were less pronounced compared to the variations that existed between diverse training strategies. By integrating location and seasonality information into the training set, we found a notable improvement in the accuracy of ET_o estimating, with the average Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of the five DL models decreasing from 0.55 mm d⁻¹ to 0.48 mm d⁻¹. Furthermore, when we directly employed a larger volume of weather forecast data to train the models, the forecasting accuracy of ET_o was significantly improved, and among the five DL models, GRU performs the best. Specifically, the RMSE values for the ET_o forecasts made by GRU model for the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 15th days in the future have decreased from 0.70, 0.87, 1.00 and 1.33 mm d⁻¹ to 0.51, 0.56, 0.61 and 0.67 mm d⁻¹, respectively. Additionally, compared to previous studies, we have successfully extended the lead time of ET_o forecasts from 7 days to 15 days. These results indicate that the ET_o estimating and forecasting models developed in this study demonstrate strong applicability across the entire country, which can provide effective support for irrigation water resource management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"307 ","pages":"Article 109268"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142884162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A method to estimate the water storage of on-farm reservoirs by detecting slope gradients based on multi-spectral drone data","authors":"Yixuan Wang ,&nbsp;Nana Yan ,&nbsp;Weiwei Zhu ,&nbsp;Zonghan Ma ,&nbsp;Bingfang Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109241","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109241","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Water storage dynamics in on-farm reservoirs (OFRs) are crucial for irrigation water allocation and utilization, ensuring agricultural development sustainability. Previous studies have primarily relied on the area-storage model to estimate reservoir water storage using meter-level remotely sensed data, which often falls short of accurately capturing the water storage dynamics of OFRs, especially in small OFRs with steep slopes. Hence, we proposed a method to estimate the water storage of OFRs in irrigation areas by integrating multispectral drone data, high-resolution remote sensing data, and ground observations. The water surface area was extracted from multispectral drone data using a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and a threshold segmentation method. Slope gradients were then obtained by identifying the maximum potential slope zone (PSZ) and utilizing high-resolution drone-based Digital Surface Models (DSMs). The dam slopes of the constructed boundaries were automatically computed considering the significant decline of slope gradients. By combining the dam slopes of the OFRs with water depth observations, we estimated the construction depth (H). Subsequently, current water depth was obtained using drone-derived Digital Surface Models (DSMs), calculating the elevation difference between drone-derived OFRs and water surface boundary. Once the OFR morphology was fully constructed, the water storage was calculated based on area-storage and depth-storage methods using the 3D volume module in Arcpy. The derived water storage agrees well with in situ observation (R²: 0.99) using slope gradients, reaching an overall accuracy of 95.2 %, with a root mean square error (RMSE) and a mean absolute error (MAE) of 2785 m³ and 1820 m³, respectively. Notably, discernible fluctuations in water storage were observed during the main irrigation phases, highlighting the essential role of OFRs in promoting equitable water resource distribution and enhancing irrigation water management. This integrated approach offers a robust solution for monitoring and managing water storage dynamics in agricultural areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"307 ","pages":"Article 109241"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142841146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Substitute for polyethylene (PE) films: A novel attapulgite super absorbent polymer applied in a semi-humid drought-prone region of the Loess Plateau","authors":"Xiaofan Pan ,&nbsp;Hengjia Zhang ,&nbsp;Shouchao Yu ,&nbsp;Haoliang Deng ,&nbsp;Xietian Chen ,&nbsp;Chenli Zhou ,&nbsp;Fuqiang Li ,&nbsp;Haiyan Li","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109333","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109333","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Residual film and microplastics are widely used to prevent soil water loss in arid farming areas of the Loess Plateau, China; however, pollution and farm land quality decline plaque this management strategy. To address this, a field experiment was conducted at the dry farming demonstration site in Huating City, Gansu Province to test a novel amendment of attapulgite super absorbent polymer (A-SAP). We tested different A-SAP dosages: 30 (KL), 45 (KM), and 60 kg ha⁻¹ (KH); different coverage methods: transparent plastic film half mulching (WH), transparent plastic film full mulching (WW), black plastic film half mulching (BH), black plastic film full mulching (BW), and straw mulching (SM), with no film and no application of A-SAP as a control (CK). We built a comprehensive growth evaluation system for spring maize, select the best soil moisture conservation strategy, and provide a theoretical basis for sustainable maize production in the semi-arid area of the Loess Plateau. The results showed that all moisture conserving treatments improved soil quality compared with CK, the application of A-SAP was more conducive to rainwater infiltration during precipitation events, increased the number of soil microorganisms and soil enzyme activity, however, there was no effect of increasing soil temperature. Soil moisture retention strategies increased spring maize plant height, stem diameter, leaf area index, and dry matter accumulation, and regulated yield components, promoting spring maize yield formation, improve water productivity and economic benefits. Taking into account indicators such as soil hydrothermal, soil microbial quantity, soil enzyme activity, spring maize growth, yield, water productivity and economic benefit, the application of 45 kg ha⁻¹ attapulgite super absorbent polymer had the best overall effect. Therefore, the application of 45 kg ha⁻¹ of A-SAP can reduce pollution from residual films and microplastics and realize environmental protection while guaranteeing stable yields of spring maize in the semi-humid drought-prone region of the China’s Loess Plateau.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"309 ","pages":"Article 109333"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143125123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relevance of the irrigation and soil management system to optimize maize crop production under semiarid Mediterranean conditions","authors":"Samuel Franco-Luesma,&nbsp;José Cavero,&nbsp;Jorge Álvaro-Fuentes","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109272","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109272","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Irrigation system and soil management through the different tillage system may have a significant impact on maize crop performance due to their capabilities to modify soil water content and soil physical and biochemical properties. Over the current climate change scenarios, the evaluation and implementation of agricultural systems that increase the efficiency in the use of the resources, like water or soil fertility, must be a priority. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of two well differentiated irrigation systems (i.e. sprinkler irrigation, S, flood irrigation, F) and three different tillage system (i.e. conventional tillage, CT, no-tillage maintaining the crop stover, NTr, no-tillage removing the crop stover, NT) on maize growth and yield % and agronomic efficiency of nitrogen (AE_N) and irrigation water productivity (WP_I) for a four years maize monoculture under semiarid Mediterranean conditions. On average, S irrigation increased maize grain yields by 16 % and AE_N and WP_I by 23 and 33 %, respectively, compared to F irrigation system (with an average total irrigation water applied that was 25 % lower under S irrigation system). The tillage system showed the greatest differences when was implemented under F irrigation, showing CT better crop performance than NT. Under S irrigation, the tillage system had lower o non-impact on yield components, observing similar yield, AE_N and WP_I between CT and NTr and NT tillage systems. This work highlighted that the adoption of water saving irrigation system (like S irrigation), together with the implementation of more conservative tillage practices, such as no-tillage, is a win-win strategy to maintain the sustainability the high-yielding maize system under semiarid Mediterranean conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"307 ","pages":"Article 109272"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142911954","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Productivity of water and heat resources and cotton yield response to cropping pattern and planting density in cotton fields in arid area","authors":"Zhenlin Dong ,&nbsp;Sumei Wan ,&nbsp;Yunzhen Ma ,&nbsp;Jinbin Wang ,&nbsp;Lu Feng ,&nbsp;Yunlong Zhai ,&nbsp;Tiantian Li ,&nbsp;Zhengjun Cui ,&nbsp;Jian Wang ,&nbsp;Beifang Yang ,&nbsp;Ze Yang ,&nbsp;Zhan Zhao ,&nbsp;Fei Yan ,&nbsp;Shiwu Xiong ,&nbsp;Yabing Li ,&nbsp;Guodong Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109197","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109197","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The individual effects of cropping patterns and planting densities on cotton yield formation and resource utilization have been extensively studied in the arid regions of western China, but research on their combined impacts remains limited. This study hypothesized that optimizing cropping patterns and planting densities would enhance hydrothermal resource productivity and cotton yield in the region. To test this, a two-year field experiment (2022–2023) employed a split-plot design with two main planting patterns (four rows per film and six rows per film) and three planting densities (low, medium, and high) as subplots. Using internet of sensor technology, soil temperature and moisture were monitored to assess their spatial and temporal distributions. The effects of planting pattern, density, and their interactions on cotton yield, yield components, biomass accumulation, and water and heat utilization were evaluated. The interaction between pattern and density significantly influenced cotton yield, harvest index, and water productivity, with planting density exerting a stronger effect on water productivity than planting pattern. In 2023, the four-row pattern at low and medium densities produced higher yields than the high-density treatment. Over the two-year period, the four-row, low-density treatment achieved 8.77 % and 13.40 % greater water productivity than the medium- and high-density treatments, respectively, while the six-row, medium-density treatment outperformed low and high densities, increasing water productivity by 3.64 % and 8.74 %. Seed cotton yield was also higher, with a 2.88 % and 6.15 % increase in the four-row, low-density treatment and an 8.51 % and 4.79 % increase in the six-row, medium-density treatment compared to higher-density treatments. The study further analyzed spatial and temporal variations in soil moisture and temperature and their link to resource productivity and cotton yield. Soil water content differences ranged from 0.10 to 0.90 mm in the four-row pattern and from 0.20 to 0.70 mm in the six-row pattern between low- and high-density treatments. Planting density significantly affected soil temperature during flowering and boll-setting stages. Lint and seed cotton yields showed positive correlations with soil heat production efficiency (PE_soil) and negative correlations with water production efficiency (WP_c), with optimal patterns observed in the four-row, low-density and six-row, medium-density treatments. These findings explain why these configurations led to a higher harvest index and enhanced hydrothermal resource productivity. This study provides valuable insights into the optimal configurations for maximizing cotton yield and resource efficiency in arid regions, supporting sustainable cotton production under resource-limited conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"307 ","pages":"Article 109197"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142805359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Micro-nano bubble water subsurface drip irrigation affects strawberry yield and quality by modulation of microbial communities","authors":"Zhen Zheng ,&nbsp;Yuming He ,&nbsp;Yingli He ,&nbsp;Jing Zhan ,&nbsp;Chunyan Shi ,&nbsp;Yujie Xu ,&nbsp;Xiaowen Wang ,&nbsp;Jian Wang ,&nbsp;Chao Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109228","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109228","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Aerated irrigation can enhance soil conditions such as soil oxygen, soil temperature, and soil moisture content and alter the structure of soil microbial communities. However, there is a dearth of research on the specific mechanisms and their mutual influence. Rhizosphere soil microbes are sensitive to changes in the soil environment, and the delivery of air or oxygenated water to rhizosphere soil significantly impacts the structure of the soil microbial community. In this study, a greenhouse strawberry subsurface drip irrigation experiment with micro-nano bubble water (MNBW) was conducted, with seven different aeration treatments and one control treatment (CK). The results showed that compared to CK, the aeration treatments improved the soil conditions to varying degrees and changed the structure of the strawberry rhizosphere soil microbial community. Furthermore, the yield, vitamin C, soil oxygen content, soil temperature and soil moisture increased by an average of 108 %, 3 %, 12 %, 10 % and 4 %, respectively. The results indicated that MNBW irrigation increased the abundance of specific bacterial communities, thereby affecting strawberry yield and quality. Correlation analysis results revealed the specific mechanisms of mutual influence between soil environment and soil microbes. Therefore, A_FE (aeration during the fruit expansion stage) and A_B+F (aeration during both the budding stage and flowering stage) can significantly activate the microbes in the strawberry rhizosphere soil and are considered the optimal times for enhancing strawberry yield and quality through MNBW irrigation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"307 ","pages":"Article 109228"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142805364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The hydraulic performance and clogging characteristics of a subsurface drip irrigation system operating for five years in the North China plain","authors":"Li Zaiyu ,&nbsp;Mo Yan ,&nbsp;Gao Hao ,&nbsp;Gong Shihong ,&nbsp;Zhang Yanqun ,&nbsp;Li Guangyong ,&nbsp;Wu Feng","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109217","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109217","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Emitter clogging is one of the most significant obstacles to the widespread adoption of subsurface drip irrigation (SDI). This research focused on a five-year-old corn SDI system operating in the North China Plain, where the flow rates and internal clogging material content of 3384 non-pressure compensation emitters (accounting for 51.2 % of the total number of emitters) were measured through excavation. This research explored the response patterns of the emitter relative discharge (<em>Dra</em>), Christiansen uniformity coefficient (<em>Cu</em>), flow index (<em>x</em>), and clogging substance content in various parts of the emitters to different levels of irrigation, nitrogen application, and aeration. The results revealed that <em>Dra</em> and <em>Cu</em> significantly decreased (p &lt; 0.05) with increasing nitrogen application, whereas the changes in irrigation and aeration were not statistically significant. The average <em>Dra</em> and <em>Cu</em> for the entire system were 88.3 % and 91.2 %, respectively, indicating good uniformity of the water distribution in the SDI system. The average <em>x</em> of the emitters increased from 0.47 before installation to 0.53, suggesting a transition from turbulent flow to a partially turbulent flow state, which increased the risk of emitter clogging. Both <em>Dra</em> and <em>Cu</em> decreased linearly with increasing <em>x</em> (R²=0.64–0.78). The proportions of clogging substances in the emitter flow channels (<em>m</em>_<em>c</em>), outlet (<em>m</em>_<em>o</em>), and intrusion root (<em>m</em>_<em>r</em>) dry weight were 28.9 %, 69.3 %, and 1.8 % of the total clogging substance dry weight (<em>M</em>), respectively. The particle size distributions of the clogging substances at the outlets were similar to those of the surrounding soil, which was caused mainly by negative pressure suction. Root intrusions were mostly concentrated at the outlets, with a small portion entering the flow channels, accounting for 4.3–20.1 % of the total flow channel length. Owing to the well-designed pressure regulation and air exhaust system used in this SDI research, along with higher soil moisture in the crop root zone, the negative linear relationship between <em>Dra</em> and <em>mc</em> was most significant (p &lt; 0.01). Based on time projection, this SDI system could operate normally for 8–11 years (<em>Dra</em>, <em>Cu</em> ≥ 80 %). To achieve a life of more than 20 years, additional acid/chlorine treatments, which supplement the existing system components and the current practice of flushing twice annually, are necessary.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"307 ","pages":"Article 109217"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142805367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Physiological changes induced by green fodder expansion into grasslands and croplands enhance water-use efficiency in the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau","authors":"Xu Wang ,&nbsp;Jilin Yang ,&nbsp;Jie Wang ,&nbsp;Tong Yang ,&nbsp;Chuchen Chang ,&nbsp;Yanbo Zhao ,&nbsp;Xiaocui Wu ,&nbsp;Geli Zhang ,&nbsp;Xiangming Xiao","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109218","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109218","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rapid green fodder expansion in native grassland and cropland in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (a rain-fed region), driven by the increasing forage demand, has altered vegetation patterns and potentially affected carbon and water cycles. To clarify the elusive effects of green fodder expansion on the carbon sequestration and water consumption in this region, we examined its impacts on productivity, evapotranspiration, and water-use efficiency using a pairwise comparison approach at seasonal and annual scales in 2019. We also conducted an attribution analysis to undercover the mechanisms through which green fodder expansion influences water-use efficiency. Our results revealed that during the growing season, gross primary productivity in green fodder lands was 12.25 % and 4.14 % higher than the adjacent grasslands and croplands, respectively. Evapotranspiration was 2.89 % and 3.33 % lower in comparison. Ecosystem-level water-use efficiency was respectively 15.14 % and 6.92 % higher, while plant-level water-use efficiency increased by 4.76 % and 1.5 %, respectively. Green fodder expansion enhanced ecosystem-level water-use efficiency by increasing gross primary productivity and reducing evapotranspiration, while improvements in plant-level water-use efficiency were mainly driven by gross primary productivity increases. The changes in plant physiology and canopy structure induced by green fodder cultivation enhanced the CO₂ assimilation capacity, reduced soil evaporation, and allocated more water toward transpiration, emerging as the dominant factors driving the observed changes in gross primary productivity and evapotranspiration. However, we found that green fodder planting also led to increased soil evaporation over the non-growing season, which partially offset its positive effect on water-use efficiency during the growing season. This study suggests that green fodder cultivation could be a potential solution to increasing forage supply in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, while highlighting the necessity of reducing soil evaporation during the non-growing season to maximize the benefits of green fodder expansion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"307 ","pages":"Article 109218"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142805400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Simulating cover crops impacts on soil water and nitrogen dynamics and silage yield in the semi-arid Southwestern United States","authors":"Atinderpal Singh ,&nbsp;Prakriti Bista ,&nbsp;Sanjit K. Deb ,&nbsp;Rajan Ghimire","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109246","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109246","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Efficient water management is critical to sustainable crop production in arid and semi-arid southwestern United States. A study was designed to evaluate the variations in soil water content (SWC) and nitrogen (N) dynamics within the 0–100 cm soil profile and forage maize (<em>Zea mays</em> L.) and sorghum (<em>Sorghum bicolor</em>) yields in winter cover crop integrated crop rotations in a semi-arid environment using a Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZQWM2). The cover cropping treatments were no cover crop (NCC), a mixture of grasses, brassicas, and legumes (GBL), a mixture of grasses and brassicas (GB), and a mixture of grasses and legumes (GL) under maize and sorghum silage production. The root mean square error (RMSE), index of agreement (d), and Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient (NSE) were used to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the model. The observations and simulations showed that the soil water content was greater and soil temperature was lower under cover crops than under NCC. Simulated N mineralization in maize and sorghum with cover cropping was 41.1–44.2 % and 41.9–42.3 % greater than NCC. Also, the model simulated that cover crops improved the plant N uptake by 15.4–17.3 % in maize and 13.6–14.7 % in sorghum compared to NCC. Simulated aboveground biomass yields of maize and sorghum were 8.11–24.2 % and 5.68–21.3 % greater with cover crops than with NCC. Integrating cover crops in maize and sorghum silage production systems can conserve soil water and improve N uptake, increasing silage yield under semi-arid irrigated conditions in the southwestern United States.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"307 ","pages":"Article 109246"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142841142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Linking winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L) root traits and root water uptake with electrical resistivity tomography","authors":"Huijie Gu ,&nbsp;Yanzhe Wang ,&nbsp;Luca Peruzzo ,&nbsp;Baoru Li ,&nbsp;Yang Lu ,&nbsp;Xiuwei Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109247","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109247","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is extensively employed for monitoring soil water content (SWC) in agricultural fields. However, the direct impacts of roots and the indirect effects of root water uptake on soil electrical resistivity (ER) have been largely neglected. Furthermore, the application of ERT technology for precise measurements of crop roots in various conditions (such as cultivars and irrigations regimes) remains unexplored. This study, therefore, utilized buried fresh root experiments, soil pots, and field-irrigation trials with different winter wheat (<em>Triticum aestivum</em> L.) cultivars to examine the influence of fresh crop roots on ER and assess ERT’s capability to characterize root uptake and the root system size. The findings from the buried root and pot experiments demonstrated that fresh root addition significantly reduced the ER of mixed soil (sand and loam are mixed in a ratio of 1:5) when the SWC was below 0.24 cm³ cm⁻³. However, in loam soil, fresh root addition did not significantly decrease the ER. Pot experiments revealed strong positive correlations between root surface area and soil ER (R² = 0.78, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.001), suggesting that the increase in soil ER due to root absorption greatly outweighs the reduction caused by the roots themselves. Field experiments conducted during the grain-filling phase, when root size was stable, showed significant differences in soil ER changes (defined as the difference between two consecutive ER measurements) among winter wheat cultivars in both shallow (0–40 cm) and deep (40–100 cm) soil layers under various irrigation treatments. It was observed that wheat tends to utilize deep soil moisture in later growth stages, even with sufficient water conditions. Further analysis indicated that ER changes were positively correlated (R² &gt; 34, n = 50) with root surface area density (RSAD) in the 0–100 cm soil layer, particularly showing a stronger correlation with RSAD in the deep soil layer compared to the shallow layer under deficit irrigation (R²=0.65 vs. R²=0.23). In conclusion, ERT effectively characterizes the differences in root water uptake as well as root system size, especially focusing on deep roots among cultivars under various irrigation regimes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"307 ","pages":"Article 109247"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142841143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}