Page 6 - soil-plant-water relationship and water requirement

ABSTRACT

This book is based on a part of the syllabus for the water engineering course, which is

a compulsory course for semester 5 Diploma in Mechanical Engineering (Agriculture)
students at Polytechnic Malaysia.

The soil-plant-water relationships and water requirement book discuss the basic
physical properties of soils and plants that affect the movement, retention, and use of

water and that must be considered in designing and operating conservation irrigation
systems. It is the fundamental knowledge that students in agricultural engineering

have to understand before they implement it in designing an irrigation and drainage
systems over the next topic in the same course.

In planning an irrigation system, technical assistant is concerned primarily with the

water-holding capacity of a soil, particularly in a plant's root zone; the water-intake
rate of the soil; the root system of the crop to be grown; and the amount of water that
the crop uses. But, in order to plan efficient irrigation for specific crops grown on

specific soils and to adjust the design to different circumstances, he must also have a

clear understanding of all soil-plant-water interactions and water demand. This
comprehensive understanding also enables him to assist an irrigator in effectively

controlling the irrigation and drainage system.

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