Soil Water and Agronomic Productivity

585 Pages·2021·8.35 MB·english

by  Rattan Lal

SOIL WATER AND
AGRONOMIC
PRODUCTIVITY
Advances in Soil Science
B. A. Stewart
Series Editors: Rattan Lal and
Published Titles
Interacting Processes in Soil Science
R. J. Wagenet, P. Baveye, and B. A. Stewart
Soil Management: Experimental Basis for Sustainability
and Environmental Quality
R. Lal and B. A. Stewart
Soil Management and Greenhouse Effect
R. Lal, J. M. Kimble, E. Levine, and B. A. Stewart
Soils and Global Change
R. Lal, J. M. Kimble, E. Levine, and B. A. Stewart
Soil Structure: Its Development and Function
B. A. Stewart and K. H. Hartge
Structure and Organic Matter Storage in Agricultural Soils
M. R. Carter and B. A. Stewart
Methods for Assessment of Soil Degradation
R. Lal, W. H. Blum, C. Valentine, and B. A. Stewart
Soil Processes and the Carbon Cycle
R. Lal, J. M. Kimble, R. F. Follett, and B. A. Stewart
Global Climate Change: Cold Regions Ecosystems
R. Lal, J. M. Kimble, and B. A. Stewart
Assessment Methods for Soil Carbon
R. Lal, J. M. Kimble, R. F. Follett, and B. A. Stewart
Soil Erosion and Carbon Dynamics
E.J. Roose, R. Lal, C. Feller, B. Barthès, and B. A. Stewart
Soil Quality and Biofuel Production
R. Lal and B. A. Stewart
Food Security and Soil Quality
R. Lal and B. A. Stewart
World Soil Resources and Food Security
R. Lal and B. A. Stewart
Soil Water and Agronomic Productivity
R. Lal and B. A. Stewart
Advances in Soil Science
SOIL WATER AND
AGRONOMIC
PRODUCTIVITY
Edited by

Rattan Lal and B. A. Stewart
CRC Press
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Contents
Preface...............................................................................................................................................ix
Editors................................................................................................................................................xi
Contributors....................................................................................................................................xiii
Section i Water and Agronomic Productivity
Chapter 1 Global.Water.Balance.and.Agronomic.Production.in.Relation.to.Food.Security........3
Raveendra Kumar Rai and Vijay P. Singh
Chapter 2 Soil.Water.and.Agronomic.Production.......................................................................43
Rattan Lal
Section ii Water Resources and Agriculture
Chapter 3 Changes.in.Precipitation.during.the.Twentieth.Century.across.a.Latitude.
Gradient.in.the.United.States......................................................................................63
Anjali Dubey and Rattan Lal
Chapter 4 Desired.Future.Conditions.for.Groundwater.Availability.in.the.High.Plains.
Aquifer.System............................................................................................................85
Z. Sheng, C. Wang, J. Gastelum, S. Zhao, and J. Bordovsky
Chapter 5 Competition.between.Environmental,.Urban,.and.Rural.Groundwater.
Demands.and.the.Impacts.on.Agriculture.in.Edwards.Aquifer.Area,.Texas............117
Venkatesh Uddameri and Vijay P. Singh
Chapter 6 Sustaining.Groundwater.Use.in.South.Asia..............................................................131
Meharban Singh Kahlon, Rattan Lal, and Pritpal Singh Lubana
Chapter 7 Water.Resources.and.Agronomic.Productivity.in.the.West.Asia.
and.North.Africa.Region...........................................................................................163
Mostafa Ibrahim, Rattan Lal, ElSayed Abdel Bary, and Atef Swelam
Chapter 8 Water.Management.for.Crop.Production.in.Arid.Lands...........................................187
A.J. Clemmens, K.F. Bronson, D.J. Hunsaker, and E. Bautista
v
vi Contents
Section iii irrigation and Soil Water Management
Chapter 9 Site-Specific.Irrigation.Management:.Precision.Agriculture.for.Improved.
Water-Use.Efficiency.................................................................................................207
Susan A. O’Shaughnessy, Robert G. Evans, Steven R. Evett, Paul D. Colaizzi,
and Terry A. Howell
Chapter 10 Sustainable.Soil.Water.Management.Systems..........................................................229
G. Basch, A. Kassam, T. Friedrich, F.L. Santos, P.I. Gubiani, A. Calegari,
J.M. Reichert, and D.R. dos Santos
Chapter 11 Sustainable.Management.of.Brackish.Water.Agriculture.........................................289
Paramjit Singh Minhas
Chapter 12 China’s.Food.Security.and.Soil.Water.Management:.A.Green.Water.and.
Blue.Water.Approach................................................................................................325
Li Baoguo and Huang Feng
Section iV Agronomic Management of Soil and crop
Chapter 13 Sustainable.Management.of.Scarce.Water.Resources.in.Tropical.
Rainfed.Agriculture..................................................................................................347
Suhas P. Wani, Kaushal K. Garg, Anil Kumar Singh, and Johan Rockström
Chapter 14 Manipulating.Crop.Geometries.to.Increase.Yields.in.Dryland.Areas......................409
B.A. Stewart and Rattan Lal
Chapter 15 Mulch.Tillage.for.Conserving.Soil.Water.................................................................427
Paul W. Unger, R. Louis Baumhardt, and Francisco J. Arriaga
Chapter 16 Enhancing.Precipitation-Use.Efficiency.in.the.World’s.Dryland.Agroecosystems.......455
G.A. Peterson, D.G. Westfall, and N.C. Hansen
Chapter 17 Historical.and.Present.Usage.of.Shatian.Gravel.Mulch.for.Crop.Production.
in.Arid.and.Semiarid.Regions.of.Northwestern.China.............................................477
Liang Wei-li, Gao Wang-sheng, Xu Qiang, and Huang Gao-bao
Chapter 18 Improving.Wheat.Yield.and.Water-Use.Efficiency.under.Semiarid.
Environment:.U.S..Southern.Great.Plains.and.China’s.Loess.Plateau.....................497
Qingwu Xue, Wenzhao Liu, and B.A. Stewart
Contents vii
Section V Policy and economics
Chapter 19 Sustainable.Land.and.Water.Management.Policies..................................................523
Claudia Ringler and Ephraim Nkonya
Section Vi tools of Watershed Management
Chapter 20 Watershed.Management.for.Erosion.and.Sedimentation.Control.Case.Study:.
Goodwin.Creek,.Panola.County,.MS........................................................................539
Seth M. Dabney, F. Doug Shields, Ronald L. Bingner, Roger A. Kuhnle,
and James R. Rigby
Section Vii Research and Development Priorities
Chapter 21 Toward.Enhancing.Storage.of.Soil.Water.and.Agronomic.Productivity..................559
Rattan Lal

Preface
Only.2.75%.(40.7.×.106.km3).of.the.world’s.water.pools.are.renewable.freshwater.resources..Of.these,.
polar.ice.caps.and.glaciers.(melting.rapidly.because.of.climate.change).constitute.2%.(29.6.×.106.
km3),.groundwater.constitutes.0.7%.(10.36.×.106.km3),.and.all.other.water.bodies.constitute.0.05%..
The.latter.include.soil.water,.permafrost,.and.wetlands,.which.constitute.0.0167%.(0.25.×.106.km3),.
and.freshwater.lakes.and.rivers,.which.constitute.about.0.033%.(0.048.×.106.km3)..Thus,.renewable.
freshwater.supply.is.a.scarce.resource.and.is.unequally.distributed.among.the.world.regions.
More.severe.than.the.scarcity.of.cropland.is.the.nonavailability.of.freshwater.supply.for.the.
rapidly.expanding.world’s.population,.with.competing.demands.for.nonagricultural.uses..About.
1.billion.people,.mostly.in.rural.Asia.and.sub-Saharan.Africa.(SSA),.do.not.have.access.to.hygieni-
cally.clean.water..By.2050,.the.annual.per.capita.available.freshwater.supply.will.be.merely.503.m3.
(the.minimum.required.is.103.m3/year).for.Egypt,.517.m3.for.Ethiopia,.543.m3.for.UAE,.690.m3.for.
Iran,.791.m3.for.Burkina.Faso,.803.m3.for.Zimbabwe,.and.815.m3.for.Afghanistan..There.will.be.30.
densely.populated.countries.(e.g.,.Pakistan,.India,.and.others.in.arid.and.semiarid.climates).that.will.
face.severe.water.shortage.and.recurring.drought.stress.by.2025..Water-related.problems.will.be.
exacerbated.by.climate.change.and.the.attendant.increase.in.the.intensity.and.frequency.of.extreme.
events.
Hunger.and.related.malnutrition.affect.1,020.million.people.around.the.world..Of.these,.230.
million.live.in.India.and.another.220.million.in.SSA..Low.agronomic.production.is.attributed.
to.low.crop.yields.of.<1.t/ha.under.rainfed.conditions.because.of.recurring.drought.stress..Loss.
of.grain.production.due.to.water.scarcity.in.developing.countries.is.estimated.at.100.Mt.in.1995,.
300.Mt.in.2025,.and.425.Mt.in.2050..Crop.yields.can.be.improved.through.soil-water.conservation.
and.increase.in.area.under.supplemental.irrigation..Over.a.42-year.period.between.1961.and.2003,.
cropland.area.under.irrigation.increased.from.3.5.million.hectares.(Mha).or.8.6.million.acres.(Ma).
to.7.0.Mha.(17.3.Ma).in.SSA..Only.5%.of.the.irrigable.land.area.is.currently.being.irrigated.in.SSA..
In.comparison,.cropland.area.under.irrigation.increased.between.1961.and.2003.from.30.4.Mha.
(75.1.Ma).to.54.6.Mha.(134.8.Ma).in.China.and.from.24.7.Mha.(61.0.Ma).to.55.8.Mha.(137.8.Ma).
in.India.
The.need.for.an.efficient.use.of.soil.water.is.also.enhanced.by.the.lack.of.availability.of.freshwater.
supply.for.supplemental.irrigation..Global.water.use.for.agriculture,.as.a.percentage.of.the.total.water.
use,.was.81.4%.in.1900,.72.3%.in.1950,.68.2%.in.1975,.and.56.7%.in.2000..Global.water.use.for.urban.
purposes.(km3/year).was.20.in.1900,.60.in.1950,.150.in.1975,.and.440.in.2000..Similarly,.global.water.
use.(km3/year).for.industrial.purposes.was.30.in.1900,.190.in.1950,.630.in.1975,.and.1900.in.2000.
Availability.of.water.for.irrigation.is.also.constrained.by.the.diversion.to.fossil.fuel.production.
and.eutrophication/pollution.of.water.resources..One.liter.of.bioethanol.production.requires.3500.L.
of.fresh.water..Thus,.there.is.a.strong.and.prime.need.for.conserving,.recycling,.and.improving.soil-
water.resources.to.meet.the.food.demands.of.the.growing.world.population.
The.severity.of.drought.is.likely.to.be.exacerbated.by.the.projected.climate.change.because.of.
an.increase.in.the.frequency.of.extreme.events..The.abrupt.climate.change.may.increase.the.risks.
of.three.types.of.drought..These.are.(1).meteorological.drought.caused.by.the.long-term.decrease.in.
precipitation,.(2).hydrological.drought.by.the.long-term.decline.in.surface.runoff.and.severe.fall.in.
the.groundwater.levels,.and.(3).agronomic.drought.caused.by.the.reduction.in.soil.moisture.avail-
ability.because.of.degradation.in.the.structural.properties.and.retention.porosity..Severe.degrada-
tion,.especially.of.soil.physical.and.biological.qualities,.aggravates.agronomic.drought.through.a.
decrease.in.the.effective.rooting.depth.by.accelerated.erosion,.a.decline.in.the.soil.organic.matter.
content.by.decomposition.and.erosion,.a.reduction.in.the.magnitude.and.stability.of.aggregates,.a.
ix
x Preface
decline.in.the.water.infiltration.rate.and.an.increase.in.the.losses.by.surface.runoff,.and.an.increase.
in.soil.evaporation..Thus,.agronomic.yields.of.upland.crops,.especially.of.shallow-rooted.seasonals/
annuals,.are.adversely.affected.by.agronomic.droughts..A.decline.in.soil.fertility.and.an.elemental.
imbalance,.along.with.an.increase.in.salinization,.also.impact.the.vulnerability.of.crops.to.drought.
Therefore,.soil-water.management.is.crucial.to.reducing.the.vulnerability.to.agronomic.drought..
Technological.innovations.to.enhance.the.availability.of.water.for.agricultural.crops.through.soil-
water.management.depend.on.soil-.and.site-specific.conditions..Crop.water.use.can.be.increased.
by.the.management.of.surface.runoff,.groundwater,.irrigation,.and.soil.water..This.volume.is.
devoted.to.the.principles.and.practices.of.enhancing.water-use.efficiency..This.21-chapter.volume.
is.thematically.divided.into.seven.sections:.(1).Water.and.Agronomic.Productivity.(two.chapters),.
(2).Water.Resources.and.Agriculture.(six.chapters),.(3).Irrigation.Management.(four.chapters),.
(4).Agronomic.Management.of.Soil.and.Crop.(six.chapters),.(5).Policy.(one.chapter),.(6).Tools.of.
Watershed.Management.(one.chapter),.and.(7).Research.and.Development.Needs.(one.chapter)..
World-renowned.scientists.were.invited.to.contribute.chapters.to.illustrate.these.seven.themes.
The.editors.thank.all.the.authors.for.their.outstanding.contributions.to.this.volume..Thanks.are.
due.to.the.staff.of.Taylor.&.Francis.for.their.timely.efforts.in.publishing.this.volume.and.also.to.the.
staff.of.the.Carbon.Management.and.Sequestration.Center,.who.made.valuable.contributions..Our.
special.thanks.are.due.to.Ms..Theresa.L..Colson.for.her.dedication.and.commitment.in.handling.
the.editorial.production.of.the.chapters.and.for.collaborating.with.the.authors.in.the.review.process.
Rattan Lal
Bobby Stewart