Effects of localized irrigation model on hydraulic conductivity in soil-root system for different root-zones of maize

Effects of localized irrigation model on hydraulic conductivity in soil-root system for different root-zones of maize grown in split-root containers were analyzed. Three irrigation treatments, namely, conventional water irrigation treatment(C), fixed partial root-zone irrigation treatment(F), alterneative parial root-zone irrigation treatment(A), were adopted hydraulic conductivity of whole and a half root-zone, and hydraulic conductivity per root area and per root length were studied. Results show that, compared with each half root-zone of the control, the hydraulic conductivity in soil-root system for irrigated root-zone under the A and F treatments increase significantly at both the 5th and the 10th days of each treatment. Localized irrigation can increase the compensatory effect of water transport in soil-root system. For F treatment, the hydraulic conductivity of the irrigated root-zone is always markedly higher than that of the non-irrigated root-zone. As for A treatment, the hydraulic conductivity of two root-zones alternatively changes. The hydraulic conductivity of the non-irrigated root-zone increases significantly for A treatment compared with F treatment. Alternative partial root-zone irrigation treatment can use all root system resources better to satisfy crop water requirement.