Capillary flow responses in a soil-plant system for modified subsurface precision irrigation

• Main Authors: Zainal Abidin, Mohamad Shukri, Shibusawa, Sakae, Ohaba, Motoyoshi, Li, Qichen, Khalid, Marzuki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2014
• Subjects: SB Plant culture
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/52051/1/Mohamad%20ShukriZainal2014_%20Capillaryflowresponsesin.pdf; http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/52051/; http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11119-013-9309-6
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Water movement in a soil-plant system was evaluated based on capillary flow in a modified subsurface irrigation system that incorporates a plant-water measuring device. Water from a reservoir tank located underneath the plant pot was supplied to the root zone through a fibrous medium. Evapotranspiration was measured from the water uptake and evaluations were performed based on soil moisture distribution and mass balance. Potential evapotranspiration was used as a reference for the plant-water uptake. Data were obtained from a test plant provided with the modified subsurface irrigation system. The plant was grown in a phytotron under controlled air temperature and humidity, and a comparison was made for different levels of soil moisture condition. The experimental results confirmed the operational efficiency of the modified subsurface irrigation system for precision irrigation.