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Responses of Lucerne to Different Soil Moisture Regimes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

J. J. Landsberg
Affiliation:
Matopos Research Station, Bulawayo, Rhodesia*

Summary

An experiment in which irrigation intervals for lucerne were dictated by four factors applied to daily evaporation from a Class A pan has been reported by Landsberg (1966). This paper discusses data from a number of subsidiary measurements made during that experiment. An extensive soil sampling programme yielded data on the effects of treatments on soil moisture content, and plant height and per cent ground cover measurements enabled detailed evaluations to be made of crop responses. Both height and ground cover were decreased by soil moisture stress. Relative turgidity was closely related to soil moisture content in the early morning, dry treatments showing more rapid recovery of turgor than those where water was kept at more adequate levels. Radiation utilization by the crop was affected by soil moisture conditions, and also apparently by temperature.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1967

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