Radiation/Light Use Efficiency in Cropping Systems

A.S. JADHAV Dean, Faculty of Agriculture MPKV, Rahuri-413 722, Dist. Ahmednagar Email: asjadhav22@rediffmail.com deanmpkv@yahoo.co.in

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Topics Absorbed

Covered

radiation radiation radiation

Intercepted

Transmitted Radiation Factors Light

distribution in a crop canopy

affecting radiation distribution within plant community use efficiency (LUE)

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Introduction
Solar

radiation is the source of energy for photosynthesis. Radiation in the 400 - 700 nm wavelength interval supports photosynthesis in green plants. This region of the spectrum is referred as photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).

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 Absorbed

PAR is algebraic sum of the incoming and outgoing flux densities measured above and below a plant canopy (Aarar et al., 1989). The measurements required above the canopy are
incident PAR flux density I0 excitant PAR flux density Rc from the canopy (including reflected by the but not absorbed prior to arriving at the top of the canopy). PAR flux density transmitted, Tc through the canopy to the soil surface and PAR flux density reflected by the soil, Rs.
absorbed

Par (APAR) of the canopy may be computed as: APAR = (I0 + Rs) - (Tc + Rc).

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Intercepted

PAR (IPAR) is the difference in the PAR flux density above and below the plant canopy. The two measurements required are the incoming PAR flux density transmitted (Tc) through the canopy to the soil surface: IPAR = I0 - Tc.
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 When

water, nutrients and temperature are not limiting, the quantity of dry matter produced by a crop stand W (gm-2) can be expressed as: W = Sfet
Where, S is the daily mean solar radiation (MJm2 day-1) f is the seasonal mean fractional interception of radiation by the canopy e is the seasonal mean conversion coefficient (gMJ-1) t is the canopy duration in days

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 During

the season, fractional interception (f) is related to leaf area index (LAI) by the equation: f = I - exp (-kLAI) Where, k is an extinction coefficient dependent on leaf angle and distribution.

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Reflection, Transmission and Absorption On an average about 75 % of the incident radiation is absorbed by plant canopy about 15 % is reflected and 10 % is transmitted.

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Radiation Distribution in a Crop Canopy

Three

aspects of solar radiation are biologically significant.

Intensity of radiation i.e. amount of radiant energy falling on a unit surface area in a unit time. Spectral distribution of radiation which governs the photochemical process of photosynthesis. Radiation distribution in time is important for photoperiodic phenomenon.

The

rate of photosynthesis depends on the availability of photosynthetically active radiation intercepted by the leaves. The rate of transpiration from the plant canopy is also controlled to a greater extent by the radiation energy. 9
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Factors Affecting Radiation Distribution Within Plant Community

Transmissibility

of Leaves Leaf Arrangement and Inclination Plant Density Plant Height Angle of the Sun

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Light use efficiency (LUE)

Amount of dry matter produced (gm-2) LUE = ---------------------------------------------------------Amount of cumulative light absorbed (MJ m-2) Pearl millet + pigeonpea and sunflower + pigeonpea intercroppings are gaining popularity under rainfed conditions. Intercropping advantages are maximized by complementary interaction between component crops due to minimal intercrop competition (Willey, 1979). Intercrops intercepts PAR more efficiently compared to sole crops under rainfed conditions. It thus, improves light use efficiency ( Sivkumar and Virmani, 1984 and Willey et al., 1986). 11
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Extinction coefficients (k)

The

k value is generally influenced by

row spacing, plant population plant arrangements.

The

k values were more under narrow row geometry than wider row geometry because of more interception of PAR under narrow rows.
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