Plant and environmental factors, yield, plant distribution, strategies for maximizing solar energy utilization

Dr G.L.Sharma

Crop productivity or yield is a function of environmental, plant, management, and socialeconomical factors and their interaction. Mathematically, crop yield can be expressed by the following equation: Y = f (E, P, M, S) Where Y=yield, E=environment, P=plant, M=management, and S=social-economical. Figure 1 shows factors affecting crop Yield.

Fig.1 Factors affecting crop yield

Technological factors

In the past decade yields of important field crops have been improved through the use of improved cultivars, fertilizers, irrigation, fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides and improved cultural practices. All these can be classified as technological factors.

1. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

1.1 Climatic 1.1.2 Temperature 1.1.2. Moisture Supply 1.1.3. Solar Radiation From an agricultural point of view, there are two main types of climates: tropical and temperate. It is generally assumed that temperate climate means cold weather and tropical climate, hot weather.

1.1.2 Temperature

Soil and air temperatures are important and often critical environmental factors for plant growth and productivity. The optimum temperature for maximum production of root material for several species ranges from 20 to 30C.

Fig. 2 Relationship between temperature and photosynthesis in C3 and C4 plants.

1.1.2. Moisture Supply

Moisture availability is one of the most important factors determining crop Production. The distribution of vegetation in a agroecological region is controlled more by the availability of water than by any other single factor. Water is required by plants for the translocation of mineral elements, for the manufacture of carbohydrates, and for the maintenance of hydration of protoplasm.

Crop yield can be reduced at both very low and very high levels of moisture. Excess moisture reduces soil aeration and thus the supply of O2 available to roots. With poor aeration, activities of beneficial microorganisms and water and nutrient uptake by plants are seriously inhibited. There may be exceptions with aquatic plants such as flooded rice. Severe drought can cause stomata in the leaf to close, reducing photosynthesis. Moisture stress causes reductions in both cell division and cell elongation and, hence, in growth.

The supply of water (W), as expressed by the hydrological budget, is equal to precipitation (P) plus irrigation (I) and the change in storage (S), less runoff (R) and Drainage (D): W = P + I + S -R - D Plants vary widely in efficiency of water use. The ratio of dry matter production to the amount of water transpired by a crop is known as water use efficiency. Generally, C4 plants are about twice as efficient as C3 plants in utilizing water.

1.1.3. Solar Radiation

Solar radiation is an important climatic factor in plant growth and development. The duration of the solar radiation varies with the latitude and season. At the equator, day and night are of equal length all year. The greatest annual inputs of solar radiation occur in subtropical regions at 20 to 30 latitude under climates with little cloud cover and correspondingly low rainfall.
0

Solar radiation affects photosynthesis and consequently crop productivity. At the upper boundary of the atmosphere, and at the earths mean distance from the sun, the total irradiance is 1360 J rn- s- , which includes ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths. Approximately 900 J m- s- reaches plants, depending on latitude, time of day, elevation, and other factors. About half of the radiation is in the infrared region of the light spectrum, roughly 5% is in the ultraviolet, and the rest, approximately 400 J m- s- is at wavelengths between 400 and 700 nm, which are capable of causing photosynthesis. This is called photosynthetically active radiation.
2 1
2 1
2

Appreciable variation in maximum photosynthetic rate occurs between varieties and even between individual genotypes and is often associated with differences in the leaf mesophyll structure or in the activity of the carboxylating enzymes. In the subtropical plant species such as corn and sugarcane, photosynthetic rates continue to increase in response to light intensities up to more than 60,000 lux, with maximum values of over 70 mg CO2 dm- h- , equivalent to conversion rates of 5 to 6% of these high light intensities. For most tropical grasses, the production of 1 gram of dry matter corresponds to the fixation of about 4130 to 5020 cal of chemically bound energy, and for most temperate grasses it corresponds to 4250 cal.
2 1

1.2. Soil

1.2. 1. Physical Properties 1.2.1.1 Texture 1.2.1.2 Structure 1. 2. 1.3 Consistency 1. 2. 1.4 Pore Space and Density 1.2.1.5 Tilth

1.2.1.6 Strategies To Improve Soil Physical Properties

1.2.1.6a. Maintenance of Organic Matter 1. 2.1.6b Conservation Tillage 1. 2.1.6c Organic Farming

1.2.2 Chemical Properties

Soil Chemical properties such as nutrient deficiencies and toxicities, cation exchange capacity, oxidation-reduction, and salinity are the important properties determining growth and production of crops. These soil properties can be modified through management practices for higher crop production.

1.2.3 Biotic
Biotic factors which affect crop production are related to soil microorganisms such as bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, and nematodes. From the point of view of their relationships with plants, microorganisms can be classified into three groups: (1) saprophytes, usually opportunists, but benefactors in some situations (2) parasitic symbionts or pathogens, potentially harmful to the plant; and (3) mutualistic symbionts, usually called symbionts 1. 2. 3. 1. Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation 1. 2.3.2. Mycorrhizae

2. PLANT
2.1. Genetic Variability 2.2. C3 and C4 Plants 2.3. Photosynthetic Efficiency 2.4. Plant Architecture 2.5. Harvest index 2.6. Plant Density

3. SOCIAL-ECONOMICAL
3.1. Marketing 3.2. Price 3.3. Extension Service 3.4. Availability of Credit