Plant response to the soil environment: an analytical model integrating yield, water, soil type, and salinity

An accessible solution capable of reliably predicting plant‐environmental interrelationships for variable species, climates, soils, and management options is a necessary tool for creating sustainable agriculture and environmental preservation. A mechanism‐based analytical solution, the first of its kind that considers multiple environmental variables and their combined effects on plant response, was developed and tested. Water uptake by plants, water and salt leakage below the roots, and yield are calculated by solving for transpiration in a single mathematical expression according to limitations imposed by root zone salinity and water status. Input variables include the quantity and salinity of applied water, terms for plant sensitivity to salinity and to water stress, potential evapotranspiration, and soil hydraulic parameters. Where water was not limiting, regression of predicted versus measured data resulted in r2 = 0.96 with slope of 0.937 and intercept of 0.033 (not different from 1 and 0 at 99% confidence), where irrigation varied and salinity was not limiting the r2 = 0.94 with slope of 0.906 and intercept of 0.044 (not different from 1 and 0 at 99% confidence), where both salinity and water levels varied r2 = 0.94 with slope of 0.966 and intercept of 0.033 (not different from 1 and 0 at 99% confidence). Application of the model for agricultural and environmental management and economic analysis is discussed. For example, a farmer in the Arava in Israel where irrigation water salinity is high (electrical conductivity of 3 dS m−1) cannot expect to reach greater than 70% of the potential yield for a pepper crop with any amount of irrigation. By choosing melon, the farmer can achieve 90% of potential yield with the same quality and quantity of water.