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Soil water availability is a key factor restricting the ecological construction and sustainable land use in the loess hilly region. It is of great theoretical and practical significance to understand the soil moisture status of different land use types for the vegetation restoration and the effective utilization of land resources in this area. In this study, EC-5 soil moisture sensors were used to continuously monitor the soil moisture content in the 0-160 cm soil profile in the slope cropland, terraced fields, jujube orchard, and grassland during the growing season (from May to October) in the Yuanzegou catchment on the Loess Plateau, to investigate soil moisture dynamics in these four typical land use types. The results showed that there were differences in seasonal variation, water storage characteristics, and vertical distribution of soil moisture under different land use types in both the normal precipitation (2014) and dry (2015) years. The terraced fields showed good water retention capacity in the dry year, with the average soil moisture content of 0-60 cm soil layer in the growing season being 2.6%, 4.2%, and 1.8% higher than that of the slope cropland, jujube orchard, and grassland (all P<0.05). The water storage of 0-160 cm soil profile was 43.90, 32.08, and 18.69 mm higher than that of slope cropland, jujube orchard, and grassland, respectively. In the normal precipitation year, the average soil moisture content of 0-60 cm soil layer in jujube orchard in the growing season was 2.9%, 3.8%, and 4.5% lower than that of slope cropland, terraced fields, and grassland, respectively (all P<0.05). In the dry year, the effective soil water storage of 0-160 cm soil profile in the jujube orchard accounted for 35.0% of the total soil water storage. The grey relational grade between the soil moisture in the surface layer (0-20 cm) and soil moisture in the middle layer (20-100 cm) under different land use types was large, and the trend for the similarity degree of soil moisture variation followed terraced fields > grassland > slope cropland > jujube orchard. The slope cropland in this area could be transformed into terraced fields to improve the utilization of precipitation and promote the construction of ecological agriculture. Aiming at resolving the severe water shortage in the rain-fed jujube orchard for the sustainable development of jujube orchard in the loess hilly region, appropriate water management measures should be taken to reduce the water consumption of jujube trees and other inefficient water consumption.

Soil moisture variation in dryland sloping jujube. orchard was investigated after introducing two economic crops, i.e., feed Brassica napus (JR) and Hemerocallis fulva (JH) planted between jujube rows. Jujube tree without inter-row crop was set as control (CK). The results showed that mean soil moisture for JR and JH in the 0-180 cm soil layer increased by 6.2% and 10.1% compared with CK, respectively. Soil moisture changed mainly in the 0-60 cm soil layer in growth stage of Jujube trees. Soil moisture in JR and JH treatments significantly increased in the 0-60 cm soil layer, which could meet the demand in water resource of jujube plantation. The water consumption of jujube trees also mainly concentrated in the 0-60 cm soil layer. There was a significant decay exponential relationship between the soil moisture in the 0-20 cm layer and the drought duration after rainfall. During the 18-day dry period after rain, the soil moisture contents of JR and JH were apparently higher than that of CK. In conclusion, the jujube-crop intercropping system improved the soil moisture condition. It was an effective measure to overcome the seasonal drought in jujube orchards on the loess hilly region.

Soil moisture is a key factor affecting jujube growth in the semiarid Northern Shaanxi Province. The impacts of different engineering and mulching measures on soil moisture were investigated via in situ measurements in a typical dryland jujube orchard. The results showed that the mean soil moistures (0-180 cm) of scale-like pit + branch mulching, scale-like scale + straw mulching, and soil moisture of scale-like pit with no mulching were increased by 14.2%, 9.4%, and 4.8% than control, respectively. Different measures, especially for the scale-like pit + branch mulching, significantly increased the soil moisture in the soil surface (0-20 cm) and the main root zone layer (20-100 cm) during the jujube growth stage. Individual precipitation events had great impacts on soil moisture in the 0-100 cm, while its effect on soil moisture in deep layers was not apparent. There was no significant difference among the soil moistures in different soil depths of scale-like pit with no mulching when compared with the control under high, medium, and low soil humidity conditions. This study indicated that using the clipped jujube branches as mulching could both save materials cost and achieve the goal of reserving more water in dryland jujube orchard in north Shaanxi Province.

Background: The disproportionate distribution of arable land and water resources has become a bottleneck for guaranteeing food security in China. Virtual water and virtual water trade theory have provided a potential solution to improve water resources management in agriculture and alleviate water crises in water-scarce regions. The present study evaluates the green and blue virtual water content of wheat, maize and rice at the regional scale in China. It then assesses the water-saving benefits of virtual water flows related to the transfer of the three crops between regions., Results: The national average virtual water content of wheat, maize and rice were 1071 m(3) per ton (50.98% green water, 49.02% blue water ), 830 m(3) per ton (76.27% green water, 23.73% blue water) and 1294 m(3) per ton (61.90% green water, 38.10% blue water), respectively. With the regional transfer of wheat, maize and rice, virtual water flows reached 30.08 Gm(3) (59.91% green water, 40.09% blue water). Meanwhile, China saved 11.47 Gm(3) green water, while it consumed 7.84 Gm(3) more blue water than with a no-grain transfer scenario in 2009., Conclusion: In order to guarantee food security in China, the government should improve water productivity (reduce virtual water content of crops) during the grain production process. Meanwhile, under the preconditions of economic feasibility and land-water resources availability, China should guarantee the grain-sown area in southern regions for taking full advantage of green water resources and to alleviate the pressure on water resources., (© 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Based on the multi-disciplinary researches, and in terms of the transformation efficiency of surface water to soil water, availability of cropland soil water, crop canopy structure, total irrigation volume needed on a given area, and crop yield, this paper discussed the water-saving mechanisms of intercropping system in improving cropland water use efficiency. Intercropping system could promote the full use of cropland water by plant roots, increase the water storage in root zone, reduce the inter-row evaporation and control excessive transpiration, and create a special microclimate advantageous to the plant growth and development. In addition, intercropping system could optimize source-sink relationship, provide a sound foundation for intensively utilizing resources temporally and spatially, and increase the crop yield per unit area greatly without increase of water consumption, so as to promote the crop water use efficiency effectively.

A field experiment was conducted at the Yuzhou Experimental Base of Henan Province to study the effects of different application rates (0, 30, 60, and 90 kg x hm(-2)) of water-retaining agent (WRA) on the root physiological characteristics, biomass, and grain yield of two winter wheat cultivars Zhengmai-9694 and Aikang-58, aimed to probe into the action mechanisms of WRA on the root system of winter wheat at its different growth stages. The application of WRA decreased the root membrane permeability and soluble sugar content, and increased the root vigor. After the application of WRA, the Zhengmai-9694 at its different growth stages had a greater decrement of root membrane permeability, compared with Aikang-58. In all treatments except 90 kg x hm(-2) of WRA, the root vigor of Aikang-58 was obviously higher than that of Zhengmai-9694. At booting and grain-filling stages, the root soluble sugar content of Zhengmai-9694 decreased much more than that of Aikang-58. In the whole growth period of the two cultivars, their root membrane permeability and soluble sugar content were the lowest in treatment 60 kg x hm(-2) of WRA, and no significant differences were observed between treatments 60 and 90 kg x hm(-2) of WRA. The root vigor of Zhengmai-9694 increased remarkably with the increasing rate of WRA application, while that of Aikang-58 was the highest in treatment 60 kg x hm(-2) of WRA. The application of WRA also increased root biomass, and at jointing and booting stages, the root biomass of Aikang-58 was much higher than that of Zhengmai-9694. However, at grain-filling stage, the biomass of Aikang-58 in treatments 60 and 90 kg x hm(-2) of WRA was lower than that of Zhengmai-9694. Treatment 60 kg x hm(-2) of WRA had the highest grain yield of the two cultivars. It was concluded that WRA had more significant effects on Zhengmai-9694 than on Aikang-58, and applying 60 kg x hm(-2) of WRA could obtain the best effect.