Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T23:23:44.040Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Water use by winter wheat as affected by soil management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

M. J. Goss ,
K. R. Howse ,
Judith M. Vaughan-Williams ,
M. A. Ward  and
W. Jenkins
M. J. Goss
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council Letcombe Laboratory, Wantage, 0X12 9JT
K. R. Howse
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council Letcombe Laboratory, Wantage, 0X12 9JT
Judith M. Vaughan-Williams
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council Letcombe Laboratory, Wantage, 0X12 9JT
M. A. Ward
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council Letcombe Laboratory, Wantage, 0X12 9JT
W. Jenkins
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council Letcombe Laboratory, Wantage, 0X12 9JT
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

In each of the years from September 1977 to July 1982 winter wheat was grown on one or more of three clay soil sites (clay content 35–55%) in Oxfordshire where the climate is close to the average for the area of England growing winter cereals.

The effects on crop water use of different soil management practices, including ploughing, direct drilling and subsoil drainage, are compared. Cultivation treatment had little effect on the maximum depth of water extraction, which on average in these clay soils was 1·54 m below the soil surface. Maximum soil water deficit was also little affected by cultivation; the maximum recorded value was 186±7·6 mm. Subsoil drainage increased the maximum depth of water extraction by approximately 15 cm and the maximum soil water deficit by about 17 mm.

Generally soil management had little effect on either total water use by the crop which was found to be close to the potential evaporation estimated by the method of Penman, or water use efficiency which for these crops was about 52 kg/ha par mm water used.

Results are discussed in relation to limitations to potential yield.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 103 , Issue 1 , August 1984 , pp. 189 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aho, D., Daudet, F. A. & Vartanian, N. (1979). Evolution de la photosynthése netto et de l'efficience de la transpiration au cours d'un cycle de dessèchementdu sol. Comple rendu de l'Académic des sciences 288, 501–504.Google Scholar
Cannell, R. Q., Davies, D. R., Mackney, D. & Pidgeon, J. D. (1978). The suitability of soils for sequential direct drilling of combine-harvested crops in Britain. A provisional classification. Outlook on Agriculture 9, 306–316.Google Scholar
Cannell, R. Q., Ellis, F. B., Christian, D. G., Graham, J. P. & Douglas, J. T. (1980). The growth and yield of winter cereals after direct drilling, shallow cultivation and ploughing on non-calcareous clay soils. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 94, 345–359.Google Scholar
Cannell, R. Q., Goss, M. J., Harris, G. L., Jarvis, M. G., Douglas, J. T., Howse, K. R. & Le Grice, S. (1984). A study of mole drainage with simplified cultivation for autumn-sown crops on a clay soil. 1. Background, experiment and site details, drainage systems, measurement of drain flow and summary of results, 1978–80. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 102, 539–559.Google Scholar
Day, W., Legg, B. J., French, B. K., Johnston, A. E., Lawlor, D. W. & Jeffers, E. De C. (1978). A drought experiment using mobile shelters: the effect of drought on barley yield, water use and nutrient uptake. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 91, 599–623.Google Scholar
Drew, M. C. & Saker, L. R. (1980). Direct drilling and ploughing: their effects on the distribution of extractable phosphorus and potassium, and of roots, in the upper horizon of two clay soils under winter wheat and spring barley. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 94, 411–423.Google Scholar
Ehlers, W. (1976). Water infiltration and redistribution in tilled and untilled loess soil. Göttinger Bodenkundliche Berichte 44, 137–156.Google Scholar
Ehlers, W., Khosia, B. K., Kopke, U., Stulpnagel, R., Bohm, W. & Baeumer, K. (1980). Tillage effects on root development, water uptake and growth of oats. Soil and Tillage Research 1, 19–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, F. B. & Barnes, B. T. (1980). Growth and development of root systems of winter cereals grown after different tillage methods including direct-drilling. Plant and Soil 55, 283–295.Google Scholar
French, B. K., Long, I. F. & Penman, H. L. (1973 a). Water use by farm crops. I. Test of the neutron meter on barley, beans and sugarbeet, 1970. Rothamsted Experimental Station Annual Report 1972. Part 2, pp. 5–42.Google Scholar
French, B. K., Long, I. F. & Penman, H. L. (1973 b). Water use by farm crops. III. Bare soil, short turf and crops in rotation, 1962–1967, 1971. Rothamsted Experimental Station Annual Report 1972. Part 2, pp. 62–85.Google Scholar
Gales, K. (1983). Yield variation of wheat and barley in Britain in relation to crop growth and soil conditions — a review. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 34, 1085–1104.Google Scholar
Gales, K. & Wilson, N. J. (1981). Effects of water shortage on the yield of winter wheat. Annals of Applied Biology 99, 323–334.Google Scholar
Garwood, E. A. & Sinclair, J. (1979). Use of water by six grass species. 2. Root distribution and use of soil water. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 93, 23–35.Google Scholar
Goss, M. J., Howse, K. R. & Harris, W. (1978). Effects of cultivation on soil-water retention and use by cereals in clay soils. Journal of Soil Science 29, 475–488.Google Scholar
Gregory, P. G., McGowan, M. & Biscoe, P. V. (1978). Water relations of winter wheat. 2. Soil-water relations. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 91, 103–116.Google Scholar
Hall, D. G. M., Reeve, M. J., Thomasson, A. J. & Wright, V. F. (1977). Water retention, porosity and density of field soils. Soil Survey Technical Monograph, no. 9. Harpenden.Google Scholar
Harris, G. L., Goss, M. J., Dowdell, R. J., Howse, K. R. & Morgan, P. (1984). A study of mole drainage with simplified cultivation for autumn-sown crops on a clay soil. 2. Soil water regimes, water balances and nutrient losses in drain water, 1978–80. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 102, 561–581.Google Scholar
Howse, K. R. (1981). A technique for using permanent neutron meter access tubes in cultivated soils. Experimental Agriculture 17, 265–269.Google Scholar
Howse, K. R. & Goss, M. J. (1982). Installation and evaluation of permanent access pits which permit continuity of measurement in cultivated soils. Experimental Agriculture 18, 267–276.Google Scholar
Jones, J. N., Moody, J. E. & Lillard, J. H. (1969). Effects of tillage, no-tillage, and mulch on soil water and plant growth. Agronomy Journal 61, 719–721.Google Scholar
McGowan, M. (1974). Depth of water extraction by roots. In Isotopes and Radiation Techniques in Soil Physics and Irrigation Studies, pp. 435–445. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency.Google Scholar
McGowan, M. & Williams, J. B. (1980). The water balance of an agricultural catchment. II. Crop evaporation: seasonal and soil factors. Journal of Soil Science 31, 231–244.Google Scholar
Thom, A. S. & Oliver, H. R. (1977). On Penman's equation for estimating regional evaporation. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 103, 345–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar