Crop yield (Y) and depth of water table (X indm). At shallow depth the yield reduces.Antique Dutchwindmills used to pump water into the embanked river to prevent waterlogging of the lowlands (polders) behind them.
Waterlogging water is the saturation ofsoil withwater.[1] Soil may be regarded as waterlogged when it is nearly saturated with water much of the time such that its air phase is restricted andanaerobic conditions prevail. In extreme cases of prolonged waterlogging, anaerobiosis occurs, the roots ofmesophytes suffer, and the subsurfacereducing atmosphere leads to such processes asdenitrification,methanogenesis, and the reduction of iron and manganese oxides.[2]
All plants, includingcrop, requireair (specifically,oxygen) to respire, produce energy, and keep their cells alive. In agriculture, waterlogging typically blocks air from getting to the roots.[3] With the exception ofrice (Oryza sativa),[4][5] mostcrops likemaize andpotato,[6][7][8] are therefore highly intolerant to waterlogging. Plantcells use a variety of signals such the oxygen concentration,[9] planthormones likeethylene,[10][11] energy and sugar status[12][13] to acclimate to waterlogging-induced oxygen deprivation. Roots can survive waterlogging by formingaerenchyma, inducing anaerobic metabolism, and changing root system architecture.[14]
Inirrigated agricultural land, waterlogging is often accompanied bysoil salinity as waterlogged soils preventleaching of thesalts imported by the irrigation water.
From agardening point of view, waterlogging is the process whereby the soil hardens to the point where neither air nor water can soak through.
