ISSN 0253-2050

Optimizing soil moisture for plant production

FAO SOILS BULLETIN

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Preface

As the human population grows, notably in the tropics and subtropics (where many rural people live in poverty), the difculties of increasing food production also increase. In these areas, average crop yields are in gradual decline. In spite of improved plant breeding, the rates of rise in potential yield are slowing down. Problems caused by erosion and lowland ooding are more frequent, providing evidence of ecological instability in upland areas. Water tables are falling as a result not only from drought, but also from overuse. People without formal land rights cultivate ever-larger areas of steep slopes and other marginal land. As good land for the lateral expansion of agriculture becomes scarcer, there will be increasing need to intensify land use without causing a decline in productive potential. There are experiences in a growing number of countries indicating that an agricultural revolution based on principles of better soil management can have a signicant positive impact on the sustainability and productivity of agriculture. Soil moisture is often neglected, but improved soil moisture management is crucial for sustainable improvement of food production and water supply. A wider perception of soil productivity and the reasons for soil erosion and runoff will contribute to achieving higher, protable and sustainable plant production and to improve the regularity of streamow. Reduction of a soils capacity to accept, retain, release and transmit water reduces biomass productivity, whether of crops, pasture species, shrubs or trees. Soil porosity is closely linked with yields, with the economics of farming and with the sustainability of farm families livelihoods. Farmers are aware that land cleared from previously undisturbed vegetation provides free fertility from which the rst crops benet. But they also know that after a few seasons, productivity declines and that part of this decline is associated with the degradation of soil physical conditions. It is less commonly recognized that this soil damage and the loss of organic matter results in increased surface runoff and reduced soil moisture status. People are aware of problems of water shortage and soil loss, but despite continued efforts, effective means of overcoming them have not become widespread. However, there are examples in parts of Brazil, Niger and Kenya where better understanding and care of the land are avoiding or reducing water shortages. This is being achieved by increasing rainwater inltration into the soil, where it is retained for plant use or moved below the root zone to the groundwater. Where surface runoff is a problem, it can indicate that the soil has become unreceptive, less porous and that much of the rainfall is ineffective in supporting plant growth and regular streamow. The challenge is to enable the entry of as much rainfall into the soil as possible by promoting conditions that simulate an absorptive forest oor. Such conditions will stabilize the landscape, limit erosion and maximize the usefulness of rainfall. It is important to stress that while inadequate soil water supply is a major cause of low crop productivity, the nutritional aspects of crop productivity are also important. Consequently, an integrated approach to solving low crop productivity should always aim at an adequate supply of both soil water and nutrients.

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Scientic endeavour will continue to increase our knowledge of the components of these problems and offer partial solutions. However, unravelling details of problems will not automatically result in workable means of solving them. This is because there is too little understanding of some key ecological and ever-changing linkages. For example, it is the complex set of interactions among weather, plants, soils, water and landscape that results in the crop yields each season. Conventional approaches to crop production offer limited scope for future progress. There is a need to think laterally, to see if there are other ways of looking at old assumptions to identify new ways forward. This book, intended for extension staff and other technicians, as well as farmer leaders, aims to provide a solid basis for sound, sustainable soil moisture management. This document has been made more user-friendly by presenting a guide for eld workers with activities, exercises and discussion topics in non-technical language, and by interspersing the text with illustrations and diagrams. The complete materials of this guide are included on the CD-ROM that accompanies this document. The emphasis in this CD-ROM is on the use of careful eld observations of soil and plant indicators to identify soil water problems.

Contents
1. INTRODUCTION A way forward The hydrological cycle 2. HYDROLOGY, SOIL ARCHITECTURE AND WATER MOVEMENT Catchments and watersheds Soil architecture and the importance of pore spaces in soils Soil water movement Inltration of rainwater into soil Percolation of rainwater through soil Loss of water vapour from soils Water movements into and through a plant Water stress nutrient interactions Causes of restricted rooting Indicators of restricted rooting 3. RAINWATER, LAND PRODUCTIVITY AND DROUGHT Rainwater for improving yields Deteriorating water supply Indicators of deteriorating water supply Soil productivity and soil erosion Soil productivity Soil erosion Plant-damaging drought Making droughts worse Shortening the duration of drought Changing the perspective on saving soils Care about roots, soil organisms and water 4. MINIMIZING WATER STRESS AND IMPROVING WATER RESOURCES Improving restricted rainfall inltration Improving the inltration capacity of the soil surface Using surface residue covers to increase inltration and reduce runoff Mechanisms by which surface residue covers enhance rainwater inltration Advantages of surface residue covers Constraints to using surface residue covers The amount of residues needed Conditions favouring the adoption of surface residue covers Fallowing under cover crops or natural vegetation Temporary closure of grazing lands and subsequent protection Importance of forest protection for water inltration Increasing the period for inltration by detaining runoff with physical structures 1 6 9 9 11 17 19 20 21 21 21 22 23 25 27 27 28 29 29 29 33 36 37 37 39 40 43 43 43 44 46 46 47 47 47 47 48 48 49

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Contour eld operations Constraints of surface irregularities formed by contour eld operations Conditions favouring the adoption of contour eld operations Narrowly spaced contour planting ridges and tied ridges Advantages of narrowly spaced contour ridges and tied ridges Constraints of narrowly spaced contour ridges and tied ridges Conditions favouring the adoption of narrowly spaced contour ridges and tied ridges Impermeable and permeable contour barriers at discrete intervals downslope Conditions favourable for adoption of impermeable cross-slope barriers for water conservation Permeable cross-slope barriers Bench-type terraces Deep tillage to increase subsoil porosity and permeability Reducing water losses from evaporation and excessive transpiration Minimizing evaporation from the soil surface Reducing excessive transpiration Weed control Windbreaks Conditions favouring the adoption of windbreaks Shade Reducing rainwater drainage beyond the rooting zone Soils without restricted rooting Increasing available water capacity of soil Dry planting Improving plant nutrition for early root development Introducing deep-rooting crops Improving soils with restricted rooting Conditions favouring the adoption of biological methods Mechanical solutions to physical root restriction Mechanical disruption of shallow root-restricting layers Mechanical disruption of moderately deep root-restricting layers Mechanical disruption of very deep root-restricting layers in the subsoil Conditions favouring the adoption of mechanical methods Chemical solutions to restricted root growth Maximizing usefulness of low and erratic rainfall Match land use to soil characteristics Use of drought-resistant and drought-escaping crops and varieties Increase crop water use efciency Selecting water-efcient crops Adjusting plant population to expected rainfall Applying fertilizers Weed control Seed priming Early planting Accumulate moisture from one season to the next Water harvesting Za pits or Tassa Half moons (demi-lunes)

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Contour stone lines Contour earth ridges and bunds Retention ditches Retention pits Retention basins Farm ponds Floodwater harvesting and water spreading Collaborative stakeholder participation Need for a facilitator Need to tackle root causes Participatory identication and prioritization of soil water problems Participatory identication of the root causes Participatory identication of possible solutions for testing Participatory selection of possible solutions for testing Participatory testing and evaluation of possible solutions 5. CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE Improving soil conditions Residue-based zero tillage in Brazil and Paraguay History Implementing conservation agriculture Effects of conservation agriculture Effects on crop yields Effects on soil moisture Effects on some other soil health indicators Effects on erosion and runoff Effects on catchment hydrology Effects of zero tillage systems on farm economics Observations about residue-based zero tillage systems in Latin America Constraints of conservation agriculture and some approaches to overcome them REFERENCES

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their appreciation and gratitude to Jos Benites, AGLL for the advice on preparing this publication. The authors would also like to thank Peter Craufurd of the Department of Agriculture, The University of Reading for information and help on soil water relations and plant physiology, as well as John Gowing for supplying illustrations. The authors also highly appreciated the valuable comments provided by Amir Kassam, SDRC , P. Koohafkan, AGLL and Bob Steward, West Texas A&M University on draft versions. Special thanks are due to Peter Brinn and Sandrine Vaneph for their comments and the consequent editing they provided. Also valuable were the inputs, nal editing and proof reading by Robert Brinkman. Finally, the authors thank to Antonio Castellanos for his efcient preparation of the text and Lynette Chalk for formatting of this document.

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List of gures
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Human-induced soil degradation Simplied diagram of the hydrological cycle The sequence of destinations of rainwater Catchment vs. watershed as distinct but interrelated features of the landscape A nested hierarchy of interrelated constructed and natural catchments Typical available water capacities of different textured soils Runoff and percolation: two routes for rainwater Sideways development of tap-root of a wild okra weed growing in a maize eld; the change in growth habit of the root is caused by a compacted hoe pan at the base of the ridges formed by hoeing to the same depth (and the passage of feet during the rains) over many years 9. Examples of rooting pattern and growth habit when roots are physically impeded or prevented from penetrating a root-restricting soil layer 10. Soil structure and its impact on soil processes and agricultural sustainability 11. Where the soil is not crusted and is protected by litter from the force of raindrops more water enters the soil than where the surface is bare 12. Yield after erosion is related to the quality of soil remaining, not to quantity and quality of soil removed 13. Within-season droughts with annual rainfall totals of 1 275 mm (1915), 776 mm (1965) and 340 mm (1972) in Hyderabad, India 14. Root systems of two young tea plants of the same clone (MT12) without and with irrigation, after 9 months in the eld 15. Fate of rainwater for three soil management practices 16. Fanya Juu terrace at construction and after several years 17. Example of a paraplow 18. a) Shows the depth of shank penetration for in-row subsoiling in relation to the root-restricting horizon, b) shows a cross-sectional view of the effect on crop root development 19. Example of concentrated runoff harvesting by diverting ephemeral ows into retention ditches or basins 20. Permeable rock dams with contour stone bunds for oodwater harvesting and water spreading 21. Example of possible solutions to the problem of high runoff 22. Example of a problem-cause tree for high runoff 23. The growth of residue-based zero tillage in Brazil 1972 1999 24. Soil moisture available to plants at different depths during the vegetative phase of wheat growth, under thre methods of soil preparation 25. Frank Anna farms production graphs 1978-2000 in Paran, Brazil 3 9 10 11 12 15 15

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List of tables
1. Arable land and permanent crops area (1 000 ha) per 1 000 capita by region 2. Decline in average yields of unfertilized maize in kg/ha local/traditional varieties, Malawi 3. Decline in response of local maize to fertilizers in Malawi 4. Three-year running means of ve major crops yields (kg/ha), Lesotho 5. Differences in available water capacities between two East African soils 6. Functions and sizes of soil pores 7. Dimensions of roots of three grasses in sample of 0.688 litre taken to a depth of 15 cm 8. Annual rainfall totals at Indore, India 9. Length of growing period for different soil available water capacities in bimodal rainfall areas of semiarid India 10. Effect of P fertilizer and soil depth on rainwater use efciency and sorghum grain yield in Botswana 11. Effects of improved za on sorghum yields over 2 years 12. Yields, net value of production and returns to labour from existing tassa/(za) and demi-lunes, Niger 13. Checklist of possible solutions to soil water problems that will need validating and adapting with farmers 14. Yields of wheat and soybean, averaged across rotations, under three different soil preparation methods in Londrina, Brazil 15. Changes in mean diameter and stability of soil aggregates after 7 years of r otation under residue-based zero tillage (ZT) and conventional tillage (CT) in Paran, Brazil 16. Buildup of soil organic matter under ZT compared with conventional cultivation 17. Inuence of different methods of soil preparation on population of earthworms in Paran, Brazil 18. Number of maize roots to depth of 1 m after 15 years of zero tillage (ZT) and conventional tillage (CT) in Paran, Brazil 19. Losses of soil and water under conventional tillage (CT) and residue-based zero tillage (ZT) 20. Comparative short- and long-term economic results on typical 135 ha farms with tractor power, from conventional tillage (CT) and residue-based zero tillage (ZT) in San Pedro and Itapua regions, Paraguay 21. Summary of farming system results on small farms with cotton, soybeans, tobacco, maize 1 2 2 2 15 18 30 36 69 73 77 78 83 91

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Acronyms

ABLH ABRACOS AWC CA FAO FC FEBRAPDP IAPAR Instituto CEPA/SC MAI NGO PWP SUREHMA SWC TRIEA WSC ZT

Association for Better Land Husbandry Anglo-Brazilian Amazonian Climate Observation Study Available Water Capacity Conservation Agriculture Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Field Capacity Federao Brasileira do Plantio Direto na Palha Paran States agricultural research station, Brazil Santa Catarina States Institute for Planning and Agricultural Economics, Brazil Moisture Availability Index Non-Governmental Organization Permanent Wilting Point Paran States agency for water resources and the Environment, Brazil Soil and Water Conservation Tea Research Institute of East Africa Water and Soil Conservation Zero Tillage

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Glossary of soil moisture terms

Field Capacity (FC) refers to the relatively constant soil water content reached after 48 hours drainage of water from a saturated soil. Drainage occurs through the transmission pores (greater than about 0.05 mm diameter; but note that eld capacity can correspond to pores ranging from 0.03 to 0.1 mm diameter). The FC concept only applies to well-structured soils where drainage of excess water is relatively rapid; if drainage occurs in poorly structured soils, it will often continue for several weeks, and so poorly structured soils seldom possess a clearly dened FC. FC is best determined in the eld by saturating the soil and measuring its water content after 48 hours of drainage have elapsed. Soil at eld capacity feels very moist to the hands. Permanent Wilting Point (PWP) refers to the water content of a soil that has been exhausted of its available water by a crop, such that only non-available water remains. The crop then becomes permanently wilted and cannot be revived when placed in a water-saturated atmosphere. At this point the soil feels nearly dry or only very slightly moist. Available Water Capacity (AWC) is the water available for plant growth held between Field Capacity and Permanent Wilting Point. Saturation refers to a soils water content when practically all pore spaces are lled with water. This is a temporary state for well-drained soils, as the excess water quickly drains out of the larger pores under the inuence of gravity, to be replaced by air.

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List of background documents (available on CD-ROM)

1. Preliminary activities: community maps and transect walks 2. Activities: exploring soil hydrology, biology, porosity, etc. 3. Discussion topics for farmers groups 4. Assessing project success: the signicance of farm families comments 5. Reinterpreting reports 6. An example of how to begin the steps of improvement 7. Soil moisture use under different land uses and vegetation 8. The soil maker of Chile 9. List of publications about cover crops 10. Demonstrating the importance of soil porosity

System requirements to use the CD-ROM: IBM compatible with Microsoft Windows 95 / 98 / 2000 / Me / NT / XP 64 MB of RAM 50 MB of available hard-disk space Internet browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 (included on CD-ROM); to be installed in case of problems with previous versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader