Integrating soil hydraulic properties with crops and climate to assess soil suitability for rainfed and irrigated agricultural productivity

• Grant number: 17/17793-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: March 01, 2018
• End date: February 28, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agricultural Engineering - Soil and Water Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Quirijn de Jong van Lier
• Grantee: Everton Alves Rodrigues Pinheiro
• Supervisor: Jiri Simunek
• Host Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of California, Riverside (UCR), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/16128-4 - The role of soil hydraulic properties in crop water supply: a physical approach at agroecosystem scale, BP.PD

Abstract

In line with the ongoing postdoctoral project, this internship in the USA seeks to implement a process-based analysis integrating soil hydraulic properties with crops and climate zones. The investigation aims to identify a better tuning of combinations of soil and crop in order to optimize the efficiency of water use in crop productivity, and as well as to develop strategies to adapt and to mitigate impacts of projected scenarios of reduced water availability on crop yield. To achieve these goals, a vadose-zone hydrological model with a robust modular structure is needed. As such, the HYDRUS model, a widely used numerical model that simulates water flow in one-, two-, and three-dimensional variably saturated porous media will be used. To calculate the pressure head at onset of transpiration reduction, root length density will be simulated using an add-on module of the HYDRUS model. Simulation scenarios will be chosen to investigate the role of soil hydraulic parameters, weather data and crop properties in crop water availability and crop yield. A second set of simulations will focus on reduced soil-water availability coupled with rainfed and irrigated croplands. Model simulated relative crop yield will be used as indicator of drought stress and water supplying capacity of soils. The main expected outcome from this proposal is the optimization of the combination of soil and crop in terms of root water uptake in order to enhance sustainable management of water resources in agriculture. The internship is planned for a 12-months period and will count on the full support of the HYDRUS development team hosted at the University of California Riverside (UCR). (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

RODRIGUES PINHEIRO, EVERTON ALVES; VAN LIER, QUIRIJN DE JONG; SIMUNEK, JIRKA. The role of soil hydraulic properties in crop water use efficiency: A process-based analysis for some Brazilian scenarios. AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS, v. 173, p. 364-377, JUL 2019. (17/17793-4, 16/16128-4)

VAN LIER, QUIRIJN DE JONG; RODRIGUES PINHEIRO, EVERTON ALVES; INFORSATO, LEONARDO. Hydrostatic Equilibrium between Soil Samples and Pressure Plates Used in Soil Water Retention Determination: Consequences of a Questionable Assumption. Revista Brasileira de Ciência do Solo, v. 43, 2019. (17/17793-4, 16/16128-4)

RODRIGUES PINHEIRO, EVERTON ALVES; VAN LIER, QUIRIJN DE JONG; INFORSATO, LEONARDO; SIMUNEK, JIRKA. Measuring full-range soil hydraulic properties for the prediction of crop water availability using gamma-ray attenuation and inverse modeling. Agricultural Water Management, v. 216, p. 294-305, MAY 1 2019. (17/17793-4, 16/16128-4)