Effect of Soil Moisture on Growth and Phosphorus Uptake by Wheat.

Abstract

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of soil moisture on growth and phosphorus uptake by wheat. The experiment consisted of three soils and five available water depletion levels: 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70%, each replicated four times in randomized complete block design. The plants were harvested 50 days after planting. In all soils, both shoot and root growth as well as P uptake increased significantly (P = 0.05) with the decrease in available water depletion (AVD). Decrease in AWD from 70 to 30% increased shoot growth in the loamy sand, sandy loam, and sandy clay loam soils by 33.6, 22.9, and 9.9%, respectively. While root dry matter increased in the same soils 33.1, 29.3 and 10.1, respectively. Dry matter yield and phosphorus uptake as a function of water availability were described using the model Y = a + b In X.