CHAPTER -2

SOIL-WATER-PLANT RELATIONSHIPS
Introduction
Soils are the storehouse of water, nutrients and air which are
necessary for plant growth.
Therefore, plants grow on soils that provide them water and nutrients.
The plants need water, the soil stores the water needed by the plants,&
The atmosphere provides the energy needed by the plants to withdraw
water from the soil.
 Soil-Water-Plant Relationships relate the properties of the soil that
affect the movement, retention and use of water. It can be divided &
treated as:
 Soil-Water relation
 Soil-plant relation
 Plant- Water relation
 Plants absorb water mainly through their roots and use only 1.0 to
1.5% of the volume of water absorbed for building their vegetative
structures and performing various physiological and biochemical
activities.
Then where does the rest 98.5% - 99% of water absorbed
goes …???
Study of the process of water transport in soil, into plants and from
soil and plants to the atmosphere are the basics of irrigation practice.
Important Question while thinking of Irrigation is when to irrigate and
how much to irrigate ?
The answers of these questions depend on the knowledge of soil-
water- plant-atmosphere relationship
Therefore, the timing and amount of applied water to the command
area depends on:-
Climatic condition
The crop and its stage of growth
Soil properties
 Both excess and deficit soil water affects plant growth and

hence result in yield reduction (less productivity).

 Soil-water-plant-atmosphere relationship requires the study

of soil physical characteristics, moisture retention, storage,

and transport, availability to plants as well as mechanisms

of water absorption, conduction and transpiration by plants.

 SOIL – WATER RELATIONSHIP
Physical properties of soils
Soil is the natural material that covers the land surface of the
earth. Soils have profiles.
They are formed by a combination of natural processes
under the interrelated influences of climate, vegetation, relief
(including hydrology), parent material, and time.
Soil is a three-phase system constituting solid, liquid and
gases.
The minerals and organic matters in soil together constitute
the solid phase
Three phase diagram of a soil profile
 The fraction of total soil volume occupied by solid soil and
that occupied by the pore space has significant effect in
limiting ability of soil to store water.
 A typical silt loam soil contains about 50% soil solids, 30%
water and 20% air.

SOIL TEXTURE
 It is the weight percentage of the mineral matters that
occurs in each of the specified size fraction of the soil.
 Soil texture refers to the relative size of soil particles in a
given soil (sand, silt and clay ).
 Size limits of soil separates
Soil separates Particle diameter (mm)

USAD ISSS

Very course sand 2.0 - 1.0 -

Course sand 1.0 - 0.5 2.0 - 0.2

Medium sand 0.50 - 0.25 -

Fine sand 0.25 - 0.10 0.20 - 0.02

Very fine sand 0.10 - 0.05 -

Silt 0.05 - 0.002 0.02 - 0.002

Clay < 0.002 < 0.002

 Fine sand

Moisture Status: 25-50% 50-75% 75-100%

Loam soils (sandy clay loam , loam , silt loam)

 The relative proportion of soil separates is determined by
mechanical analysis / Sieve Analysis. Triangular
classification is then utilized to differentiate the soil
texture.

The relative sizes of three soil samples

USDA Triangular soil Textural classification Chart
3%

25%

72%
Sandy Clay Loam
Figure of USDA textural triangle
Soil Structure
It refers to the manner in which primary soil particles are
arranged into, secondary particles or aggregates.
 Soil structure determines the total porosity,
the shape of individual pores and their size distribution.
 Soil structure affects:-
 Retention & transmission of fluids in the soil
 Germination
 root growth
 Tillage
 Erosion etc.
 The overall quality of the soil structure may be evaluated in
terms of its: Porosity, Aggregation, Cohesiveness,
Permeability for water or air.
Volume and mass relationships
Volume
Mass
Relations Relations

Vt = Vs +Vw +Va

Mt = Ms + Mw + Ma

Schematic diagram of the soil as a three-phase system

Bulk density
Mass per unit volume of soil comprising the solid and
gaseous phase in exclusion of the liquid phase is called bulk
density.
That means it describes the soil as it is in the natural state
including pore spaces. In other words, bulk density is the
weight of oven dry soil per unit total volume.
It is sometimes referred to as apparent specific gravity.

Ms Ms
ρb = =
Vt (Vs + Va + Vw )
 Bulk density (gm/cm3) while apparent specific gravity
(dimensionless).
 Bulk density is normally expressed on a dry weight basis :
1.0 – 1.8 gm/cm3 for mineral soils.
 Determination: Soil Core method
Particle density
Ms
ρs =
Vs
Thus the particle density of any soil is constant and does not
vary with the amount of space between the particles. It is
defined as the mass (weight) per unit volume of soil particles
(soil solids).
Total pore space and porosity (E)
Total pore space (E) is the ratio of the volume of pores
(voids) to the total volume of soil and is expressed in %. It is
the volume of soil occupied by air and water.
Vf (Va + Vw ) Vt Vs Vs
E= = = = 1
Vt Vt Vt Vt

ρb
E= 1
ρs
Total porosity is influenced by textural characteristics of soil
and ranges from 35 to 50 % in sandy soils and from 40 to 60
% in clayey soils.
Soil Water Content
 Soil water content is expressed on mass basis or volume
basis. It is measured using gravimetric, neutron scattering,
gamma ray, capacitance method, time domain
reflectometer.
1. Gravimetric method (on mass or volume basis)
Mass basis: W2 W3
w= ×100
W3 W1
W1 = weight of empty aluminium box, gm
W2 = weight of box + moist soil sample, gm
W3 = weight of box + dried soil sample, gm
Volume basis:

Vw Vw ρb
θ= = θv = w
Vt (
Vs + V f ) ρw

The gravimetric method is still the most widely used

technique to determine the soil water content and is often
taken as a standard for the calibration of other methods.
A disadvantage is that it is laborious, because samples in
duplicate or in triplicate are required to compensate for errors
and variability.
2. Neutron-Scattering
The neutron-scattering method is based on fast-moving
neutrons emitted by a radioactive source, usually 241Am,
which collide with nuclei in the soil and lose energy.
A detector counts part of the slowed-down reflected
(thermal) neutrons. Because hydrogen slows down neutrons
much more than other soil constituents, and since hydrogen is
mainly present in water, the neutron count is strongly related
to the water content.

We use an empirical linear relationship between the ratio of

the count to a standard count of the instrument, which is called
the count ratio, and the soil-water content.
 The standard count is taken under standard conditions,
preferably in a pure water body.
 The empirical relationship is given by:
θ = a +b R
R = the count ratio and a and b = soil specific constants (-)
Neutron probe to measure soil-water content
Constant a in Equation increases with bulk
density; constant b is influenced by soil chemical
composition (Gardner 1986).
Advantages
Soil-water content can be measured rapidly and
repeatedly in the same place;
Average soil-water content of the sphere of
influence can be measured with depth;
Temporal soil-water content changes can easily
be followed;
Relation between count ratio and soil-water
content is linear.
Disadvantages
Counts have a high variability; measurement is not
completely repeatable;
Poor depth resolution;

Measurements are interfered with by many soil constituents;

The use of a radioactive source can pose health risks if no

appropriate care is taken.
Measurements near the soil surface are impossible.
 • Capacitance methods

a-holder
b-electrodes
c- cable
d-connector

A probe with conductive plates or rods surrounded with soil constitutes the
capacitor. The relative permittivity (dielectric constant) of water is large
compared with that of the soil matrix and air.
• A change in the water content of the soil will
cause a change in the relative permittivity, and
consequently in the capacitance of the capacitor
(probe) surrounded with soil.

• The capacitor is usually part of a resonance circuit

of an oscillator. Changes in the soil-water content,
and thus changes in the capacitor capacitance,
will change the resonance frequency of the
oscillator.

• In this way, the water content is indicated by a

frequency shift.
CLASSIFICATION OF SOIL WATER
 The water below the water table is known as ground water and the water above
the water table is known as soil water. There are three kinds of soil water. These
are:
 Gravitational/Free water
 Capillary water
 Hygroscopic water
1. Gravitational water
 When sufficient water is added to soil, water gradually fills the pore system
expelling air completely from soil.
 Water moving downwards through soil under gravity.
 The water tension at this stage is 0.33 atm. or less.
 Gravitational water is not available to plants because of the rapid disappearance
of the water from the soil.
 maximum level of gravitational water is when the soil is saturated.
2. Capillary water
The water content retained in the soil after the gravitational
water has drained off from the soil is called capillary water.
Water enters the pores until the soil-water tension equal to
the gravity force.
This soil water tension is about 0.10 – 0.33atm.
This water is available to plants.
Factors that influence the amount of capillary water in the
soil are the structure, texture and organic matter content of the
soil.
capillary water in fine soils > Capillary water in course
soils.
Optimum growth of plant takes place when the soil water is
maintained at near field capacity
3. Hygroscopic water
 The water that an oven dry sample of soil absorbs when
exposed to moist air is known as hydroscopic water.
 Water held tightly to the surface of soil particles by
adsorption forces.
 Occurs as a very thin film over the surface of soil particles.

 This water is not available to plants.

SOIL MOISTURE CONSTANTS
The following soil moisture contents are of significance importance in agriculture & are
termed soil moisture constants.
SATURATION CAPACITY
This is the total water content of the soil when all the pores of the soil are filled with water.

It is also termed as the maximum water holding capacity of the soil.

At saturation capacity, the soil moisture tension is almost equal to zero.
FIELD CAPACITY
 This is the water retained by an initially saturated soil against the force of gravity.

 Hence ,as the gravitational water gets drained off from the soil, it is said to reach
the field capacity.
 At field capacity, the macro-pores of the soil are drained off, but water is retained

in the micro-pores.
PERMANENT WILTING POINT
Is the moisture content beyond which plants can no longer
extract enough moisture and remain witted unless water is
added to the soil.
 The soil water stored between field capacity and the
permanent wilting point is called the total available water or
available water capacity (AWC).
INFILTRATION
 Infiltration is defined as the process by which water passes through the soil surface and enters to the sub-soil,
generally the root zone for application in irrigation.
 The rate at which infiltration can be maintained in a particular soil is an extremely important parameter in the
design of irrigation systems.
 The infiltration rate also usually plays key role in the management and operating schedule of an irrigation
system.
Factors affecting Infiltration
 Surface entry

 Transmission through the soil

 Depletion of Available Storage Capacity in the soil

 Characteristics of the permeable medium

 Characteristics of the fluid

 Soil Texture and Structure

 Soil- moisture content

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