Soil water conservation for dryland farming

Authors: UNGER, PAUL - Retired ARS Employee; Schwartz, Robert; Baumhardt, Roland - Louis; XUE, QINGWU - Texas A&M Agrilife

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/12/2022
Publication Date: 11/27/2023
Citation: Unger, P.W., Schwartz, R.C., Baumhardt, R.L., Xue, Q. 2023. Soil water conservation for dryland farming. In: Lal, R., editor. Soil and Drought: Basic Processes. 1st edition. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. p. 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1201/b22954.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/b22954

Interpretive Summary: Insufficient soil water is the major factor responsible for low yields in seasonally dry and semiarid regions that represents nearly 75% of the world’s arable soils. Dryland farming generally is defined as agriculture without irrigation where lack of available water limits crop or pasture production in a part of the year. Successful water management under dryland farming conditions invariably entails capturing precipitation and storing it as soil water during fallow periods for subsequent use by dryland crops. During the growing season, management interventions are employed that have the potential to improve crop productivity under water stress. In this chapter, scientists from ARS-USDA (Bushland, Texas) and Texas A&M AgriLife Research address current and past research developments highlighting the effectiveness of management interventions that influence components of the soil water balance and crop water use and yield during the growing season of dryland crops.

Technical Abstract: Insufficient soil water is the major factor responsible for low yields in seasonally dry and semiarid regions that represents nearly 75% of the world’s arable soils. Dryland farming generally is defined as agriculture without irrigation where lack of available water limits crop or pasture production in a part of the year. Successful water management under dryland farming conditions invariably entails capturing precipitation and storing it as soil water during fallow periods for subsequent use by dryland crops. During the growing season, management interventions are employed that have the potential to improve crop productivity under water stress. In this chapter, we address current and past research developments highlighting the effectiveness of management interventions that influence components of the soil water balance and crop water use and yield during the growing season of dryland crops.