Water use efficiency of controlled alternate irrigation on root-divided maize plants

• Published in: Agricultural water management Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. 69 - 76
• Main Authors: Kang, Shaozhong, Liang, Zongsuo, Hu, Wei, Zhang, Jianhua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.10.1998; Elsevier Science; Elsevier
• Series: Agricultural Water Management
• Subjects: Agricultural and forest climatology and meteorology. Irrigation. Drainage; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; CONTENIDO DE AGUA EN EL SUELO; DRYING; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agronomy. Plant production; Irrigation; IRRIGATION SYSTEMS; Irrigation. Drainage; Maize ( Zea mays); RACINE; RAICES; RESEAU D'IRRIGATION; ROOTS; SECADO; SECHAGE; SISTEMAS DE RIEGO; Soil drying; SOIL WATER CONTENT; TENEUR EN EAU DU SOL; USO DEL AGUA; UTILISATION DE L'EAU; WATER USE; Water use efficiency; Water-saving cultivation; ZEA MAYS; Maize ( Zea mays); Soil drying; Irrigation; Water use efficiency; Water-saving cultivation; root-divided technique; Alternance; Monocotyledones; Water management; Zea mays; Root; Desiccation; Cultivated soil; Water resource management; Method; Experimental study; POT EXPERIMENTATION; Cereal crop; Gramineae; Angiospermae; Spermatophyta; controlled alternate irrigation; IRRIGATION METHODS; Method study
• ISSN: 0378-3774; 1873-2283
• DOI: 10.1016/S0378-3774(98)00048-1

A new method of irrigation was designed and tested for its water use efficiency (WUE). Maize plants were grown in pots with their roots divided and established into two or three separated containers of which irrigation and soil drying were controlled alternately. Results showed that when the two halves of the root system were alternatively exposed to a drying soil and a soil with its water content maintained above 55% or 65% of its field capacity, water consumption was reduced by 34.4–36.8% and the total biomass production was reduced by only 6–11%, when compared to the well-irrigated plants. Significant increase in WUE, root to shoot ratio and stomatal resistance for water diffusion were observed as a result of such treatment. Leaf transpiration was reduced substantially while the rate of photosynthesis and leaf water content were not significantly altered. The results were also compared to root-divided plants of which irrigation was fixed to one container only and showed that a better WUE, root development and distribution, shoot biomass production were achieved by the alternate drying and rewetting. We conclude that the controlled alternate irrigation (CAI) is an effective and water-saving irrigation method and may have the potential to be used in the field.