BonaRes – Module a (Phase 2), Soil^3, Sustainable Subsoil Management, Subproject G, Effects of Subsoil Management on Root Growth, Crop Yield and Product Quality in a Multi-Stress Environment of a Dry and Nutrient Poor Soil
Plants acquire between 10 and 30% of their nutrient and water supply from the subsoil. However, the subsoil has hardly been considered so far. The aim of the project is to improve the nutrient and water acquisition by the plant root through an effective subsoil management and thereby to stabilize or sustainably increase the crop yields. The cultivation of deep rooting crop plants in combination with technical incorporation of organic materials into subsoil will be tested with regard to decreasing the penetration resistance, stabilising an optimal soil structure and increasing the water holding capacity within the deeper rooting zone.
The subproject G studies the effects of subsoil management on root growth in relation to crop yield and product quality in a multi-stress environment of a dry and nutrient-poor sandy soil. The investigations will answer the questions, how subsoil properties and spatial-temporal availability of water and nutrient resources in deeper soil areas influence the root growth and how the plant utilize higher metabolic investments into root system for an increase in aboveground biomass.
To determine the site-specific potentials of subsoil improvement, long-term series of weather data will be analysed with regard to duration and frequency of drought periods in combination with data from a long-term fertilisation experiment. To test the effects of different subsoil management, a new field experiment will be carried out, where the influence of resource availability in the subsoil on the belowground/aboveground biomass ratio, the carbon and nutrient allocation within the plant, the nutrient efficiency and, finally, on the crop yields and the quality of the harvested products will be determined.
Financer
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Duration of project
Start date: 10/2018
End date: 01/2022
Research Areas
Agrarwissenschaften, Bodenwissenschaften
