In dry spell, during crop period, which of the following cannot be moisture stress mitigation practice?
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During a dry spell, the primary goal of water management is to reduce water demand.
Practices like thinning and mulching reduce water use, whereas intensive cropping increases demand and worsens water stress.
Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Dry spells during the crop growing season can deplete soil moisture, causing severe water stress that hurts crop growth and yield.
Moisture stress mitigation practices aim to conserve remaining soil water, reduce transpiration losses, and maintain a favorable plant water balance. Detailed Explanation:
Let us evaluate each practice under dry spell conditions:
- Ratooning: Cutting back the vegetative shoots of a drought-affected crop can reduce its leaf area and transpirational water demand.
This allows the plant to survive on limited soil moisture and regrow once rains return.
Thus, ratooning is an effective mitigation practice.
- Thinning: Removing intermediate plants from a crowded crop stand reduces the overall plant population.
This decreases the collective transpiration demand, leaving more soil water available for the remaining plants.
Thus, thinning is an effective mitigation practice.
- Mulching: Applying organic or plastic materials to the soil surface blocks direct sunlight.
This reduces evaporation from the soil and conserves critical moisture in the root zone.
Thus, mulching is an effective mitigation practice.
- Intensive Cropping: This practice involves growing multiple crops close together to maximize land-use intensity.
Intensive cropping increases plant density, which significantly increases the demand for water, nutrients, and space.
During a dry spell, this high demand would deplete soil moisture much faster, worsening crop water stress. Step 2: Final Answer:
Intensive cropping cannot be used as a moisture stress mitigation practice during a dry spell.
