scholarly journals Influence of Planting and Irrigation Levels as Physical Methods on Maize Root Morphological Traits, Grain Yield and Water Productivity in Semi-Arid Region

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 294
Author(s):  
Hanamant M. Halli ◽  
Sanganabasappa Angadi ◽  
Aravind Kumar ◽  
Prabhu Govindasamy ◽  
Raghavendra Madar ◽  
...  

Assessing the impact of planting methods and irrigation levels is needed to determine the effects on maize root morphological traits, grain yield, and water productivity in semi-arid regions. A study was initiated on maize (Zea mays L.) from 2015 to 2016, including three planting methods [i.e. broad bed and furrow (BBF), shallow and narrow furrow (SNF) and deep and wider furrow (DWF)] and four irrigation levels [i.e. irrigation once in ten days (I10D), irrigation at 40% depletion of available soil moisture (DASM, I40), irrigation at 50% DASM (I50) and irrigation at 60% DASM (I60)] arranged in a split-plot design with three replications. Results reveal that the DWF method has increased root length, root volume, root surface area and root dry weight compared to SNF and BBF (p < 0.05). DWF and SNF resulted in higher grain yield than BBF, although the DWF grain yield was non-significant with SNF but resulted in 22.40% higher irrigation application. Irrigation at I50 had a significant effect on root length, root surface area, and grain yield, regardless of planting methods. Therefore, where irrigation has been a costly and limited farm input, the practice of SNF and deficit irrigation (I50) could be a viable option for greater water saving and higher grain yields of maize.

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1094
Author(s):  
Hanamant M. Halli ◽  
Sanganabasappa Angadi ◽  
Aravind Kumar ◽  
Prabhu Govindasamy ◽  
Raghavendra Madar ◽  
...  

Agriculture in a water-limited environment is critically important for today and for the future. This research evaluates the impact of deficit irrigation in different planting methods on the physio-morphological traits, grain yield and WUE of maize (Zea mays L.). The experiment was carried out in 2015 and 2016, consisting of three planting methods (i.e., BBF, SNF, and DWF) and four irrigation levels (i.e., I10D: irrigation once in ten days, I40: irrigation at 40% DASM, I50: irrigation at 50% DASM, and I60: irrigation at 60% DASM). The results reveal that varying degrees of water stress due to planting methods and irrigation levels greatly influenced the maize physio-morphological traits and yield attributes. The combined effect of DWF + I50 benefited the maize in terms of higher leaf area, RWC, SPAD values, CGR, and LAD, followed by the SNF method at 60 DAS. As a result, DWF + I50 and SNF + I50 had higher 100 grain weight (30.5 to 31.8 g), cob weight (181.4 to 189.6 g cob−1) and grain yield (35.3% to 36.4%) compared to other treatments. However, the reduction in the number of irrigations (24.0%) under SNF + I50 resulted in a 34% water saving. Thus, under a water-limited situation in semi-arid tropics, the practice of the SNF method + I50 could be an alternative way to explore the physio-morphological benefits in maize.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 629-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew B. Bertucci ◽  
David H. Suchoff ◽  
Katherine M. Jennings ◽  
David W. Monks ◽  
Christopher C. Gunter ◽  
...  

Grafting of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is an established production practice that provides resistance to soilborne diseases or tolerance to abiotic stresses. Watermelon may be grafted on several cucurbit species (interspecific grafting); however, little research exists to describe root systems of these diverse rootstocks. A greenhouse study was conducted to compare root system morphology of nine commercially available cucurbit rootstocks, representing four species: pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima), squash (Cucurbita pepo), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), and an interspecific hybrid squash (C. maxima × C. moschata). Rootstocks were grafted with a triploid watermelon scion (‘Exclamation’), and root systems were compared with nongrafted (NG) and self-grafted (SG) ‘Exclamation’. Plants were harvested destructively at 1, 2, and 3 weeks after transplant (WAT), and data were collected on scion dry weight, total root length (TRL), average root diameter, root surface area, root:shoot dry-weight ratio, root diameter class proportions, and specific root length. For all response variables, the main effect of rootstock and rootstock species was significant (P < 0.05). The main effect of harvest was significant (P < 0.05) for all response variables, with the exception of TRL proportion in diameter class 2. ‘Ferro’ rootstock produced the largest TRL and root surface area, with observed values 122% and 120% greater than the smallest root system (‘Exclamation’ SG), respectively. Among rootstock species, pumpkin produced the largest TRL and root surface area, with observed values 100% and 82% greater than those of watermelon, respectively. These results demonstrate that substantial differences exist during the initial 3 WAT in root system morphology of rootstocks and rootstock species available for watermelon grafting and that morphologic differences of root systems can be characterized using image analysis.


Plant Methods ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Liu ◽  
Ji Qian ◽  
Xin Yang ◽  
Bao Di ◽  
Juan Zhou

Abstract Background Traditional measurements of apple seedling roots often rely on manual measurements and existing root scanners on the market. Manual measurement requires a lot of labor and time, and subjective reasons may cause the uncertainty of data; root scanners have limited scanning size and expensive. In case of fruit roots, coverage and occlusion issues will occur, resulting in inaccurate results, but our research solved this problem. Results The background plate was selected according to the color of the seedling roots; the image of the roots of the collected apple seedlings was preprocessed with Vision Development Module by combining image and Labview. The root surface area, average root diameter, root length and root volume of apple seedlings were measured by combining root characteristic parameters algorithm. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, a set of measurement system for root morphology of apple seedlings was designed, and the measurement result was compared with the Canadian root system WinRHIZO 2016 (Canada). With application of SPSS v22.0 analysis, the significance P > 0.01 indicated that the difference was not significant. The relative error of surface area was less than 0.5%. The relative error of the average diameter and length of the root system was less than 0.1%, and the relative error of the root volume was less than 0.2%. Conclusions It not only proved that the root surface area, average root diameter, root length and root volume of apple seedlings could be accurately measured by the method described herein, which was handy in operation, but also reduced the cost by 80–90% compared with the conventional scanner.


Author(s):  
Ömer Sarı

The study was carried out to determine the root architectural characteristics of the one-year saplings of two species of boxwood (Buxus sempervirens L. and Buxus balearica Lam.), which are endangered and natural plants of Turkey, in the greenhouse environment using the WinRhizo root analysis program and scanner. Total root length (cm), root surface area (cm2), root volume (cm3), average root diameter (mm), number of tips, number of forks and number of root crossings were determined in the study. According to the results of the study, the increase in temperature and decrease in humidity values in the second year of both species were effective on the root architectural features. As a result of this effect, the second year root length (3810 cm), number of root tips (2299), number of forks (7007) and number of root crossings (696) increased, root diameter (1.4 mm), root surface area (2158 cm2) and root volume (8 cm3) decreased. As a result, it has been concluded that species can make changes in their root parameters to adapt to different conditions and their adaptability is high. In general, the best results in root architectural parameters were obtained from Buxus balearica on the basis of species.


Author(s):  
Sylvia Morais de Sousa ◽  
Christiane Abreu de Oliveira ◽  
Daniele Luiz Andrade ◽  
Chainheny Gomes de Carvalho ◽  
Vitória Palhares Ribeiro ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Yingying Liu ◽  
Xiaoli Wei ◽  
Zijing Zhou ◽  
Changchang Shao ◽  
Shicheng Su

Chinese windmill palms (Trachycarpus fortunei) are widely planted in karst bedrock outcrop areas in southwest China because of their high economic and ecological values. The aims of this study were to investigate the foraging ability of Chinese windmill palm seedlings planted in six different types of karst microhabitat and to identify the main environmental factors that influence root foraging ability. We planted three-year-old Chinese windmill palm seedlings in six typical karst microhabitats (i.e., rocky trough, rocky surface, rocky gully, rocky soil surface, rocky pit, and soil surface microhabitats). One year after transplanting, the seedlings were excavated to determine the morphological parameters values of new roots and the nutrient concentrations of new roots and leaves. The root foraging ability of Chinese windmill palm seedlings, defined as new root length and new root surface area, was significantly greater in the rocky trough, rocky soil surface, and soil surface microhabitats than in the rocky gully, rocky surface, and rocky pit microhabitats (p < 0.05). Redundancy analysis revealed that the main positive factor affecting the rooting ability of Chinese windmill palm seedlings was soil thickness. Chinese windmill palm seedlings improved their root absorption efficiency by increasing their root length and root surface area under soil nutrient deficiency conditions. The organic carbon, total nitrogen, and available potassium in soil positively influenced the concentration of N and K in roots. Total potassium in soil negatively influenced the biomass of new annual leaves and concentrations of N, P and K in new annual roots and leaves. Chinese windmill palm seedlings can be grown in the different karst microhabitats, especially in the rocky trough, rocky soil surface, and soil surface microhabitats, and, therefore, it is suitable for use in the regeneration of karst forests.


2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo Mendoza ◽  
Ileana García ◽  
Daniela Deplama ◽  
Carolina Fernández López

Achieving a fast initial growth is crucial for legumes because grasses grow more rapidly and compete much better with forbs. In a pot experiment with a nutrient-deficient soil, we added nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and N + P to pure and mixed stands of Lotus tenuis and Festuca arundinacea and investigated the effects of on plant growth, nutrient uptake and symbiotic associations with arbuscular mycorrhizae and rhizobia. Plant yield, N and P acquisition, mycorrhizal colonisation, rhizobial nodulation and root length were measured and root diameter and root surface area were calculated after two harvests. Species responded differently to specific nutrients when grown pure or mixed. Comparing pure with mixed stands in soils fertilised with P and N + P, L. tenuis showed decreased shoot and particularly root biomass, whereas F. arundinacea showed increases in both biomasses. This suggests that the competitiveness of the grass with the legume increased upon P and N + P addition. In mixed stands, F. arundinacea produced 51–64% of the total shoot biomass and 69–74% of the total root biomass with P and N + P, respectively. Root length and root surface area were greater and the roots thinner in F. arundinacea than in L. tenuis. Addition of P and N + P increased rhizobial nodulation in legume roots but decreased mycorrhizal colonisation in both plants. Supply of N does not necessarily favour grasses, whereas P supply favours legumes. Optimisation of P nutrition might help to maximise N inputs into grasslands by symbiotic N-fixation and decrease inputs of inorganic N by fertilisation.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 899
Author(s):  
Daniel I. Leskovar ◽  
Yahia A. Othman

The objective of this two-year field study was to assess the influence of stand establishment methods (direct seeding or transplanting) on root growth dynamics, shoot morphology, leaf physiology, yield, and quality of globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus). Three artichoke cultivars were evaluated, ‘Green Globe Improved’ (GGI), ‘Imperial Star’ (IS), and ‘Romolo’ (ROM). Plants established with the transplanting method had higher mean root length intensity (La), root length, and root surface area as compared to plants established by direct seeding. The topsoil (0–20 cm) had on average higher La, root length, and root surface area than deeper soil profiles. Transplanted plants had higher plant shoot width and leaf area index (LAI) chlorophyll content index (SPAD) than direct seeded plants at the vegetative stage in 2015. The improvement of root and shoot growth in transplants (compared to direct seeding) also resulted in higher (p < 0.05) marketable yield (21.1 vs. 19.9 ton ha−1 in 2015 and 18.3 vs. 13.7 ton ha−1 in 2016). Additionally, 46–50% of the total yield occurred during the first 30 days of harvest in the transplanting method compared to 13–38% for direct seeding. No significant differences were found between planting methods or cultivars in leaf-level gas exchange (photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and transpiration) and cynarin concentration in the marketable heads. Although chlorogenic acid was similar in both establishment methods in 2015, direct seeding had higher concentration in 2016. Comparing cultivars, GGI had higher root length, surface area, root volume, and earlier and higher marketable yield than ROM. However, ROM had higher mean root length intensity (La; total root length per specific area in soil profile) than GGI in both growing seasons. This study showed significant and consistent improvements in root and shoot traits, and yield for transplants as compared to direct seeded plants.


HortScience ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 1272-1279
Author(s):  
Dennis N. Katuuramu ◽  
W. Patrick Wechter ◽  
Marcellus L. Washington ◽  
Matthew Horry ◽  
Matthew A. Cutulle ◽  
...  

Root traits are an important component for productive plant performance. Roots offer immediate absorptive surfaces for water and nutrient acquisition and are thus critical to crop growth and response to biotic and abiotic stresses. In addition, roots can provide the first line of defense against soilborne pathogens. Watermelon crop performance is often challenged by inclement weather and environmental factors. A resilient root system can support the watermelon crop’s performance across a diverse range of production conditions. In this study, 335 four-day-old watermelon (Citrullus spp.) seedlings were evaluated for total root length, average root diameter, total root surface area, and total root volume. Total root length varied from 8.78 to 181 cm (20.6-fold variation), total surface area varied from 2 to 35.5 cm2, and average root diameter and total root volume had an 8- and 29.5-fold variation, respectively. Genotypes PI 195927 (Citrullus colocynthis) and PI 674448 (Citrullus amarus) had the largest total root length values. Accessions PI 674448 and PI 494817 (C. amarus) had the largest total root surface area means. Watermelon cultivars (Citrullus lanatus) had a relatively smaller root system and significantly fewer fibrous roots when compared with the roots of the other Citrullus spp. Positive genetic correlations were identified among total root length, total root surface area, and total root volume. This genetic information will be useful in future breeding efforts to select for multiple root architecture traits in watermelon. Germplasm identified in this study that exhibit superior root traits can be used as parental choices to improve watermelon for root traits.


HortScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (12) ◽  
pp. 1750-1756
Author(s):  
Zhipei Feng ◽  
Xitian Yang ◽  
Hongyan Liang ◽  
Yuhua Kong ◽  
Dafeng Hui ◽  
...  

Air-root pruning (AP) has been identified as an effective technique for enhancing root growth and development. However, little information is available regarding the temporal changes in the root system of Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco under AP. We performed integrated morphological, physiological, and anatomical analyses of the roots in P. orientalis seedlings that had been air-root pruned for 120, 150, and 190 days. Our results found that the whole root length, number of root tips, and root surface area of AP seedlings at 120, 150, and 190 days were higher than those of the non–root-pruned (NP) seedlings (P < 0.05), but the average root diameter did not differ significantly between the treatments. Compared with NP treatment, AP increased the root length, surface area, number of tips, and specific root length of the ≤0.5 mm diameter roots in P. orientalis during the experimental periods (P < 0.05), but those of 0.5- to 1-mm-diameter roots were only increased on day 190 (P < 0.05). The AP plants also exhibited higher root vitality and proportion of live fine roots than the NP plants (P < 0.05). Our anatomical evaluation of the ≤0.5 mm roots and taproots revealed features that could account for the morphological differences found between the AP and NP plants. In conclusion, our results indicate that air-root pruning induced changes in the roots that promote the root system development in P. orientalis compared with the NP treatment during the experimental period. These results thus provide experimental evidence to support the use of AP in P. orientalis seedlings.


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