CHAPTER TWO

Soil-Plant-Water Relationship

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Introduction

• The relationship is related to the properties of soil

and plants that affect the movement, retention and
use of water.
• Simple analogy:
• Soil – Water Reservoir
• Plant Roots – pump with many inlets
• Rate of extraction = f(characteristics of soil, roots)
• The physical and chemical properties of soil are very
important in irrigation.

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The Soil system
• Soils function as a storehouse for plant nutrients, as
habitat for soil organisms and plant roots, and as a
reservoir for water to meet the evapotranspiration
demands of plant communities
• The amount of water that a soil can hold determines the
length of time that a plant can be sustained adequately
between irrigations or rainfall events.
• This amount also determines the frequency of irrigation,
the amount to be applied, and the capacity of the
irrigation system needed for continuous optimum crop
growth.

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Soil Physical Properties
• Mineral soils are porous mixtures of inorganic particles,
decaying organic matter, air, and water.

Typical soil composition by

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volume
Soil Physical Properties….

• Two important physical properties of soils are texture and

structure
• Soil texture refers to the relative proportion of
variously sized groups of mineral particles in a specific
soil.
• Soil structure refers to the manner in which soil
particles are arranged in groups or aggregates
• Soil textural classes are based on different combinations
of sand, silt, and clay.

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Soil Physical Properties….
• The basic classes used in terms of size
distribution, are determined using textural class
triangle shown below

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 Soil Physical Properties….
• The various textures are:
• Sand- loose and single-grained
• Silt- much like sand, but the characteristics are more like
clay.
• Clay- fine-textured
• Loam- relatively even mixture of sand, silt, and clay.
• Sandy Loam- high % of sand but having enough silt and
clay
• Silt Loam- loam + more silt
• Clay Loam- loam + more clay

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Soil Physical Properties….

• Texture sizes according to USDA

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Soil Physical Properties….

• Soil structure influences the rate at which water and air

enter and move through the soil, root penetration and
the nutrient supply of the soil.
• The various soil structures are:
• Single grain- loose, water percolates very rapidly. E.g.
sand
• Blocky- moderate water movement
• Platy- impedes/slows the downward movement of
water
• Granular- water percolates very rapidly
• Prismatic-moderate water movement
• Massive- Water moves very slowly. E.g. clay

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Soil Physical Properties….

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Soil Water

• Soil moisture/water is the relative water content in the

soil.
• Soil water is frequently described in terms of content in
units of gravimetric percent, percent on a volume basis,
or equivalent water depth per unit of soil depth
• Such descriptions are usually adequate for irrigation
considerations since we inquire how much irrigation
water is required to bring the soil back to a defined
water content

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• The volume and mass relationships of the soil system can be
illustrated as follows

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Thus, Soil moisture can be expressed in the form of:

a) Dry -weight basis

MC = sample wet wt. - sample dry wt.
sample dry wt.
MC (% ) = wt. of water (Mw) x 100
wt. of solid (Ms)
b) Volumetric basis
V = Vw = Vw x 100
Vt Vs + Va + Vw
V = SGb x MC SGb= ρb /ρw

Where, ρb = bulk density = ρb = (Ms+Mw+Ma(=0))/Vt…….when wet. If

dry bulk density is considered ρb =Ms/ Vt

c) Equivalent Depth: This is expressed in depth e.g. in mm. This is
normally used in irrigation engineering.

d = SGb x MC x D where SGb is bulk specific gravity

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Sample problem
A 100 cm3 soil is taken in the field which weighs
174 gm at the time of sampling. The oven dry
weight of the sample is 155 gm. Assume density of
water as 1gm/cm3. Compute:
a) the soil moisture content
i) in mass basis
ii) in volume basis
b) the dry bulk density
c) the soil moisture content for a 120cm deep soil (in
depth basis using dry bulk density)

Ans: a) i) 12.26% ii)19% b) 1.55gm/cm3 c) 22.8cm

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Soil water measurement
• The best and most effective way of determining when to
irrigate is to measure or to estimate the water level in the
soil. Some of measurement methods are:
Gravimetric
Feel and Appearance Method
Tensiometers
Electrical-Resistance Instruments
Neutron Scattering etc.

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Gravimetric method
• A known volume of soil samples will be taken
from the field, weighed, and then dried in an
oven for 24-hours at an average temperature of
105 -110 0C.
• After dried, the samples will be taken out from
the oven and weighed again.
• The difference in weight before and after drying
is the amount of moisture present in the soil.
• Gravimetric method is an accurate and standard
method but time consuming.
• The method is not practical for farm use, as the
oven cannot ordinarily be owned by farmers.
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 Feel and Appearance Method
 This is by far the easiest method.
 Assessment by feel is good for experienced people who
have sort of calibrated their hands.

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 Guidelines for evaluating soil moisture by feel and touch:

% depletion Loamy sand to fine Fine sandy loam to silt Silt loam to clay
sandy loam loam loam
At FC No free water on ball -do- -do-
but wet outline on hand
0 - 25 Makes ball but breaks Makes tight ball, Easily ribbons,
easily and doesn’t feel ribbons easily, slightly slick feeling
slick sticky and slick
25 - 50 Balls wih pressure but Pliable ball, not sticky Pliable ball,
easily breaks or slick, ribbons and ribbons easily,
feels damp slightly slick
50 - 70 Will not ball, feels dry Balls under pressure Slightly balls, still
but is powdery and pliable
easily breaks
70 - 100 Dry loose, flows Powdery dry Hard baked,
through fingers cracked crust
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Tensiometers
• Tensiometer operates on the principle that a
partial vacuum is developed in a closed
chamber when water moves out through the
porous ceramic tip to the surrounding.
• A vacuum gauge or a water or mercury
manometer can measure the tension.
• The gauge is usually calibrated in centibars or
millibars.
• After the porous cup is put in the soil, the
tensiometer is filled with water.

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• Water moves out from the porous tip to the
surrounding soil (as suction is more in the soil).
• A point is reached when the water in the
tensiometer is at equilibrium with the soil
water.
• The reading of the gauge is then taken and
correlated to moisture content using a
calibration curve.

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Electrical-Resistance Instruments
• These instruments use the principle that a
change in water content produces a change in
some electrical property of the soil.
• They consist of two electrodes permanently
mounted in conductivity units.
• Electrodes in the soil are attached by wires to a
resistance or conductance meter that measures
changes in electrical resistance in the soil.

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Neutron Scattering
• It consists of a probe lowered down a hole in the soil
• A box (rate meter or rate scalar) is at the top.
• Within the probe is a radioactive source e.g. beryllium (435 years life
span).
• The source emits fast neutrons, some of which are slowed down when
they collide with water molecules (due to hydrogen molecules).
• A cloud of slow neutrons (thermal neutrons) build up near the probe
and are registered by the rate meter or rate scalar which measures the
number of slowed down neutrons.
• The method is quick but very expensive.
• It is also dangerous since it is radioactive and must be used with care.

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 Soil water potential
• Apart from soil water content…. Can we explain the
following phenomena?
• Why soils treated in similar ways have different water
contents?
• Why plants respond differently on contrasting soils even
though they have the same water content?
• Why if a sandy soil and clay soil have the same water
content and are placed in intimate contact with one
another, water will move from the sandy soil to the finer
textured soil?
• Soil water potential is the property used to describe such a
phenomenon.

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Soil Water Potential
• Total water potential is the amount of work
required per unit quantity of water to transport
water from a pool at a specified elevation at
atmospheric pressure to the soil water at the
point under consideration
• In the soil, water moves continuously in the
direction of decreasing potential energy

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Plant Available Water
• Traditionally, plant available water has been
considered to be the amount of water held by
the soil between field capacity (FC) and
permanent wilting point (PWP).
• These two points provide only qualitative
information on soil water retention
properties.
• They are collectively known as soil water
constants

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• FC is the amount of water a well-drained soil
holds after "free" water has drained off.
• For coarse-textured soils drainage occurs
soon after irrigation because of their relatively
large pores.
• In fine-textured soils drainage takes much
longer because of their small pore size.
• Soil properties that affect field capacity are
texture and strata within the profile that
restrict water movement.
• Fine-textured soils hold more water than
coarse-textured soils.

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• PWP is the soil-water content at which plants
can no longer obtain enough water to meet
minimal transpiration requirements; at which
time, they wilt and if watered will not recover.
• The water potential commonly used for PWP is
-15 bars.
• Soil water considered to be available for plant
growth lies at a potential energy level between
FC and PWP.
• It should be pointed out, however, that these
determined values represent only the matric
potential of the soil water system.

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Highlight
• Total water potential= Matric potential
(required to extract against soil texture) +
Solute (required to extract against solute
action) + Gravitational (presence at some
datum/level) + Pressure (required to extract
from certain datum/level)
• It is the total potential that determines soil
water availability to plants.
• And this is what makes the qualitative FC and
PWP methods traditional.

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Soil moisture level

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Soil Water Classification

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• Gravitational water:
It is the water in the large pores that moves downward freely
under the influence of gravity
It drains out so fast that it is not available to the crops. The time
of draining out varies from one day in sandy soils to three days in
clay soils.
• Capillary Water:
It is the amount of water retained by the soil after gravitational
water has drained out.
It is the water in the small pores which moves because of
capillary forces and is called capillary water.
Capillary water is the major source of water available for the
plant
• Hygroscopic Water
Soil moisture further reduced by ET until no longer moves
because of capillary forces. The remaining water which is held on
particle surfaces so tightly is called hygroscopic water.
Here, the water is held by adhesive force. And therefore, it is34

unavailable to the plant.

 Evaluation of Soil Water for irrigation
• Total Available Water (TAW):
• This is the water available to crops.
• It is the water content between field
capacity and permanent wilting point.:
TAW = FC – PWP
• Readily Available Water (RAW):
• This is the level to which the available water
in the soil can be used up without causing
stress in the crop.
• For most crops, 50 to 60% of total available
water is taken as readily available.

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Water intake
• By definition, movement of water from the surface into the soil is
infiltration.
• Infiltration rate of a soil is the rate at which water will enter the
soil mass through the surface.
• This rate is dependent on soil texture and structure, density,
organic matter content, hydraulic conductivity (permeability) and
porosity.
• As wetting time increases, the infiltration rate decreases and
usually approaches a constant value, which in the case of heavy
clays may be zero.
• A general equation for the Infiltration rate (I) is the given by the
modified Kostiakov equation:
I = (a.tn)+ b mm/hr
Where: a and n are constants; t is the elapsed wetting time and b
is the basic infiltration rate

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 Field Infiltration Measurements
• Infiltrometers can be classified as flooding
and sprinkling types.
I. Flooding infiltrometers are appropriate for
surface irrigation; sprinkling infiltrometers
measure infiltration for sprinkler systems.
II. Flooding devices, however, are far more
frequently used because they require less
equipment and are easier to install and
operate than the sprinkling type

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 Soil Water Movement
• Water moves in soils in any direction in
relation to potential energy gradients.
• The rate and magnitude of movement is
determined by the many and complex
relations that exist in soil systems.

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