Water deficit effects on root distribution of soybean, field pea and chickpea

Comparison of traditional and modern deficit irrigation techniques in corn cultivation using treated municipal wastewater

“…The TDI applied for corn plants during vegetative growth lead to a greater proportion of its root systems developed deeper in the soil profile, which could lead to better use of stored soil water. Corn responded to drier soil conditions by increasing the proportion of roots deeper in the soil (Benjamin and Nielsen 2006). On the other hand, terminal water stress decreased the total plant dry matter including LAI and leaf weight (Sharma et al 2007;Labidi et al 2009;Behboudian et al 2001).…”

Improving Drought-Avoidance Root Traits in Chickpea (Cicer arietinumL.) -Current Status of Research at ICRISAT

“…Whereas the proportion of root length density distributed at deeper soil layers (115−120 cm) was shown to be higher under receding soil moisture conditions (Ali et al, 2002). In another comparison, chickpea and field pea have been found to have a greater proportion of their root system deeper in the soil profile under dryland conditions compared to irrigated conditions (Benjamin and Nielsen, 2006) while soybean was found to have a similar proportion of roots distributed across depths irrespective of irrigation treatments. Additionally chickpea was found to possess a higher root surface area to root weight ratio compared to fi eld pea or soybean (Benjamin and Nielsen, 2006).…”

“…In another comparison, chickpea and field pea have been found to have a greater proportion of their root system deeper in the soil profile under dryland conditions compared to irrigated conditions (Benjamin and Nielsen, 2006) while soybean was found to have a similar proportion of roots distributed across depths irrespective of irrigation treatments. Additionally chickpea was found to possess a higher root surface area to root weight ratio compared to fi eld pea or soybean (Benjamin and Nielsen, 2006). These results suggest that chickpeas are better equipped towards tolerance to drought stress and further improvement of root traits would be one of the promising approaches to improve the drought avoidance of chickpea under the terminal drought environments.…”

“…The advantage of a deep root system towards drought tolerance was also substantiated in soybeans (Kaspar et al, 1978), common beans (Sponchiado et al, 1989) and chickpea (Silim and Saxena, 1993). Some major root attributes such as greater effi ciency in water absorption per unit root length density, ability to change the rooting pattern across soil depths to effi ciently access the available soil moisture and the ability to produce a larger root surface area per unit root biomass seem to make chickpea the best choice for the dryland cropping systems compared to other legumes or cereals (Thomas et al, 1995;Ali et al, 2002;Tilahun and Schubert, 2003;Benjamin and Nielsen, 2006). Root length density of chickpea has been shown to be substantially lower than that of barley but, absorbed water more efficiently than barley plants (Thomas et al, 1995).…”

Morpho-Anatomical Changes in Roots of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under Drought Stress Condition

“…Reduction in cortical cell size and number, lignification of epidermal and exodermal cells and layering of sclerenchymatous cells in neighbour of cortical cells are due to the deposition of lignin, and suberins is one of another modifications under water deficit condition [13]. Drought tolerant cultivars tend to have a greater root biomass, i.e., a greater root-to-shoot ratio and deeper root profiles in common beans and pea [14], cowpea [15], soy bean, pea and chickpea [16]. A high ratio of deep root weight to shoot weight was also found to maintain high plant water potentials and had a positive effect on yield under stress [17].…”