SOYROOT—A Dynamic Model of Soybean Root Growth and Water Uptake

ABSTRACT A dynamic model of soybean root growth was devel-oped using root growth attributes measured in pot-ted plant and field studies together with simulated car-bohydrate available for root growth. The root growth model used as a sub-model of a macroscopic model of water uptake calculates root length required for the estimation of water uptake. The estimated water uptake is adjusted to account for the decreasing rate of water up-take caused by the diminishing soil water content and the gradual loss of absorptive power of the roots due to aging and death of the roots. The model (SOYROOT) was validated using field data at the Wooster location, and results predicted by the model are quite comparable to the field observations.