Evaluation of Subirrigation, With Respect to Soil Water Flow Behavior and Effects on Plant Growth

118 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988.With recent improvement in plant breeding, fertility management, weed control and cultural practices, water management is becoming the limiting factor, even in the humid midwest, for increased production and improved quality of crops. There has been an increased interest in application of subsurface irrigation for corn and soybean production in Illinois.In 1986 and 1987 a field experiment for the comparison between subirrigation and conventional drainage was conducted at the Agricultural Engineering Farm of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where Drummer Silty Clay Loam soil predominates. The results indicate that the water table response to subirrigation is quite rapid, so it is possible to maintain the water table nearly flat at a proposed level with 30-m tile spacings and 0.9-m tile depths. During a dry period, because of the shallow water table in the subirrigated plots, the water content at 50 cm depth is greater than and decreases less than that in the drained plots while at 20 cm they differ very little.Subirrigation in 1986 produced very little effect on corn growth and yield. In 1987 a slight yield increase was found in the subirrigated plots. Continued experimentation is necessary to draw a conclusion about the effect of subirrigation on plant growth and yield.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD