How does soil condition determine the quantity of irrigation water?
Physical and chemical quality and condition of a soil is a big determinant in the amount of irrigation required. Solid particles in the soil determine the texture of a soil. The largest solid particles are found in sandy soils and smallest in clayey soils. Whereas silt has a medium texture. Due to high porosity sandy soils have low soil retention capacity, which means that the water can drain below the root zone very quickly making the water-availability very low for the crops. Clayey soils on the other hand have high water retention capacity and may require less volumes of water and longer intervals of irrigation. Soil structure also plays an important role in determining the quantity of water needed for irrigation. High organic content of the soil improves the soil structure and helps is aeration, fertility and biological activities conducive to plant growth. Organic content of the soils also increases the water holding capacity of the soil thus making the irrigation requirement more
Related Questions
- I want to determine the water availability (water potential) of my soil. Are moisture release curves for soil available from Decagon to correlate water content and water potential?
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- How does soil condition determine the quantity of irrigation water?
