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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #353517
Title: Soil water extraction for several dryland crops

Author
item Nielsen, David
item Vigil, Merle

Submitted to: Agronomy Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/3/2018
Publication Date: 9/6/2018
Citation: Nielsen, D.C., Vigil, M.F. 2018. Soil water extraction for several dryland crops. Agronomy Journal. 110:2447-2455. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2018.05.0335.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2018.05.0335

Interpretive Summary: Making good choices regarding crop selection and sequencing in dryland crop rotations requires knowledge of soil water extraction depths and amounts. For a silt loam soil in northeastern Colorado, winter wheat was found to extract water from the 0-180 cm soil profile while corn extracted water from the 0-150 cm soil profile. Proso millet and pea were found to be more shallow rooted. All four crops exhibited about the same lower limits of water extraction. However, average soil water contents at physiological maturity were driest for winter wheat and wettest for millet. Crop rotational sequences that provide for shallow rooted crops (such as millet and pea) that do not fully extract soil water at lower depths allow for greater soil water availability to subsequent crops such as wheat and corn that are able to explore the lower soil profile more effectively for soil water.

Technical Abstract: Dryland farming cropping decisions would benefit from information about soil water extraction by various candidate crops. The objectives of this experiment were to 1) quantify average soil water extraction by depth in the soil profile for winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), corn (Zea mays L.), proso millet (Panicum milliaceum L.), and pea (Pisum sativum L.), and 2) verify previously published values of drained upper limit (DUL) and lower limit (LL) of water extraction for each crop grown on a silt loam soil in northeast Colorado. Soil water contents at planting and physiological maturity were measured over a 21-yr period. Average ending soil water was least at all measurement depths for wheat and greatest for millet. The greatest total profile water extraction was seen for wheat (141 mm) and the least for pea (46 mm). Soil water extraction occurred, on average, from the 0-180 cm profile for wheat, 0-150 cm profile for corn, 0-120 cm profile for millet, and 0-90 cm profile for pea. When soil water was plentiful at planting followed by dry growing season conditions, millet extracted soil water from the entire 0-180 cm profile. Crop rotational sequences that provide for shallow rooted crops (such as millet and pea) that do not fully extract soil water at lower depths allow for greater soil water availability to subsequent crops such as wheat and corn that are able to explore the lower soil profile more effectively for soil water.