Assessing the effect of deficit irrigation and biochar application on soil water depletion, root distribution, and water productivity of cucumber in semi-arid West Texas
Arjun Kafle, Sukhbir Singh, Manpreet Singh, Preetaman Bajwa, Sanjit Deb, Catherine Simpson, Glen Ritchie · 2026
Read Assessing the effect of deficit irrigation and biochar application on soil water depletion, root distribution, and water productivity of cucumber in semi-arid West Texas by Arjun Kafle, Sukhbir Singh, Manpreet Singh, Preetaman Bajwa, Sanjit Deb, Catherine Simpson, Glen Ritchie (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13284756.txt.
Description
Arjun Kafle and colleagues ran a two-year field study in 2026 on watering cucumbers with less than full irrigation in semi-arid West Texas. The trial at a Texas Tech farm crossed four watering schedules, from full crop demand down to forty percent, with three biochar rates worked into the soil. Biochar is charcoal added to soil to hold water and nutrients. Roots, soil water use, and yield per unit of water were tracked.
Cutting water shrank root length and surface area against the fully watered control, most sharply at the deepest cut. The mildest deficit schedule saved seventeen percent of water for a fourteen percent yield penalty, making it the most water productive option. Severe deficit drained soil water without sparking root adaptation. Biochar helped root surface slightly but barely moved water use or productivity, and the authors suggest longer trials.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Arjun Kafle, Sukhbir Singh, Manpreet Singh, Preetaman Bajwa, Sanjit Deb, Catherine Simpson, Glen Ritchie |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 61 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |