Vertical distribution profiles and temporal growth patterns of roots in selected oilseeds, pulses and spring wheat

Gan, Yantai; Liu, Liping; Cutforth, H. W.; Wang, Xiaoyu; Ford, Greg

doi:10.1071/cp10406

Cited by 39 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…We did not measure the distribution of maize roots belowground in the present study, but other researchers have indicated that cereals can spread their roots underneath a legume crop and root deeply and extensively in the soil profile (Adiku et al, 2001). Pea plants have a shallow rooting depth under semiarid environments (Gan et al, 2011), with a limited competitiveness for resources with cereal crops (Manschadi et al, 1998). Additionally, pea plants may provide some portion of the fixed‐N to the maize (Xiao et al, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Belowground Interspecies Interaction Enhances Productivity and Water Use Efficiency in Maize–Pea Intercropping Systems

et al. 2015

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Intercropping is shown to have yield advantages compared with sole cropping, but it is unknown how much yield advantage is due to belowground interspecies interactions. Here we determined grain yield, land equivalent ratio (LER), and water use efficiency (WUE) of maize (Zea mays L.)–pea (Pisum sativum L.) intercropping and quantified the magnitude of the contribution by belowground interspecies interactions. Field experiments were conducted at Wuwei (37°96′ N, 102°64′ E), northwest China, in 2009 and 2010. Treatments included sole maize, sole pea, and three maize–pea intercropping systems that, respectively, had no root‐barrier (M–P), plastic sheet barrier (PM–P), and nylon mesh barrier (NM–P). The plastic sheet and nylon mesh barriers were vertically placed to 1‐m deep between the two intercrop strips; this allowed the quantification of belowground interspecies interactions. On a per hectare basis, the maize–pea intercropping increased grain yields by an average of 31.3% and improved WUE by 21.9% compared with the corresponding sole maize and sole pea. The LER value was 1.33 for the M–P system, suggesting that the grain yield produced by the maize–pea intercrops per hectare is equivalent to the yield that sole crops would produce with 33% additional farmland. The M–P system had the yield of 11,034 kg ha−1, which was 21.9% greater compared with the PM–P system and 9.7% greater compared with the NM–P system. The comparison of the three intercropping systems revealed that belowground interspecies interactions contributed 59.3% of the increased yields and 88.9% of the improved WUE. Of the increased yield, about 40% was due to water movement between the two strips and the remaining 19% was due to root overlapping activity. We conclude that sharing resources in the rooting zones between the intercrops serve as a major mechanism responsible for the large yield and WUE advantages for the maize–pea intercropping in arid areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Belowground Interspecies Interaction Enhances Productivity and Water Use Efficiency in Maize–Pea Intercropping Systems

et al. 2015

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“…The great depths to which tree roots extend Jackson et al, 1996;Maeght et al, 2013;Freycon et al, 2014;Fan (Acuna and Wade, 2013;Ahmadi et al, 2011;Gan et al, 2011;Neykova et al, 2011;Trachsel et al, 2013), and the centennial timescale over which forest roots continue to expand (Zangaro et al, 2008;Knops and Bradley, 2009;Devine et al, 2011;Yuan & Chen, 2012;Sun et al, 2015) are widely observed phenomena. However, to our knowledge the current study is the first to quantify root densities to such depths in replicated plots representing distinct disturbance histories, and to determine a meaningful influence of forest age on rooting depth distributions.…”

Section: Well-developed Rooting Systems Pump Photosynthate Deep Into mentioning

confidence: 99%

Loss of deep roots limits biogenic agents of soil development that are only partially restored by decades of forest regeneration

Billings

Hirmas

Sullivan

et al. 2018

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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“…However, it is not known whether diversifying summerfallow systems with pulses is effective and productive in the northern latitude areas where water is scarce and the growing season is short (95 to 125 days) 25 . Our proposal for diversifying summerfallow systems with short-season pulses is largely based on the latest research on pulses: (a) pulse plants in the northern latitudes have a shallow rooting depth 26 with approximately 77-85% of the roots being located in the 0-0.4 m soil depth 27 , which allows pulse crops to use water mainly from the top 0.6 m soil layer, leaving water in the deeper soil layers (below 0.6 cm) 28 for use by deeper-rooted crops that are grown the following year 29 ; (b) dry pea and lentil, the two main annual pulses grown in the semiarid northern Great Plains, use 15-35% less water than cereal or oilseed crops, thereby enhancing water use efficiency 30 ; (c) pulses are typically harvested several weeks earlier than cereal or oilseed crops, leaving a longer postharvest period during which soil water can accumulate prior to planting crops the following spring 31 ; (d) the inclusion of pulse crops in the rotation can increase crop yields, decrease inputs of inorganic N fertilizer 32 , and enhance N use efficiency 33 ; and finally (e) long-term studies have shown that crop diversification with pulses and oilseed can improve overall farming sustainability 6 . The central hypothesis of the present study is that diversifying cropping systems with pulse crops can improve the attributes of soil water conservation and soil N benefits and increase total grain production.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversifying crop rotations with pulses enhances system productivity

Gan¹,

Hamel²,

Cutforth³

et al. 2016

Crops & Soils

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Agriculture in rainfed dry areas is often challenged by inadequate water and nutrient supplies. Summerfallowing has been used to conserve rainwater and promote the release of nitrogen via the N mineralization of soil organic matter. However, summerfallowing leaves land without any crops planted for one entire growing season, creating lost production opportunity. Additionally, summerfallowing has serious environmental consequences. It is unknown whether alternative systems can be developed to retain the beneficial features of summerfallowing with little or no environmental impact. Here, we show that diversifying cropping systems with pulse crops can enhance soil water conservation, improve soil N availability, and increase system productivity. A 3-yr cropping sequence study, repeated for five cycles in Saskatchewan from 2005 to 2011, shows that both pulse-and summerfallow-based systems enhances soil N availability, but the pulse system employs biological fixation of atmospheric N 2 , whereas the summerfallow-system relies on 'mining' soil N with depleting soil organic matter. In a 3-yr cropping cycle, the pulse system increased total grain production by 35.5%, improved protein yield by 50.9%, and enhanced fertilizer-N use efficiency by 33.0% over the summerfallow system. Diversifying cropping systems with pulses can serve as an effective alternative to summerfallowing in rainfed dry areas.

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Vertical distribution profiles and temporal growth patterns of roots in selected oilseeds, pulses and spring wheat

Cited by 39 publications

References 44 publications

Belowground Interspecies Interaction Enhances Productivity and Water Use Efficiency in Maize–Pea Intercropping Systems

Belowground Interspecies Interaction Enhances Productivity and Water Use Efficiency in Maize–Pea Intercropping Systems

Loss of deep roots limits biogenic agents of soil development that are only partially restored by decades of forest regeneration

Diversifying crop rotations with pulses enhances system productivity

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