Cover Crop Impacts on Soil Water Status

Impacts of gypsum and winter cover crops on soil physical properties and crop productivity when irrigated with saline water

Reuse of saline subsurface drainage water for irrigation has been identi®ed as a potential option for managing drainage volumes and sustaining crop productivity in California's San Joaquin Valley. Soil surface structural instability, crusting and poor stand establishment may, however, be constraints in drainage reuse systems. The objective of this ®eld study was to evaluate the effectiveness of...

Cover crop and conidia delivery system impacts on soil persistence ofMetarhizium anisopliae (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) in sugarbeet

Effects of crop residue cover and architecture on heat and water transfer at the soil surface

Different residue types and standing stubble versus distributed flat residues affect heat and water transfer at the soil surface to varying degrees. Understanding the effects of various residue configurations can assist in better residue management decisions, but this is complex due to various interacting influences. Therefore, modeling the effects of crop residues on heat and water movement ca...

Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition

For the first few days after heavy rain or irrigations, water drains from the soil profile until its water content approaches a relatively stable value called the drained upper limit or field capacity. When plants have extracted all of the water available to them, the root zone water content approaches a lower limit of available water, or permanent wilting water content. The water held by the s...

Remote sensing of crop residue cover and soil tillage intensity

Management of plant litter or crop residues in agricultural fields is an important consideration for reducing soil erosion and increasing soil organic C. Current methods of quantifying crop residue cover are inadequate for characterizing the spatial variability of residue cover within fields or across large regions. Our objectives were to evaluate several spectral indices for measuring crop res...