U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Wind Erosion and Water Conservation Research: Lubbock, TX
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                                    Software
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    CareersSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Plains Area Lubbock, Texas Cropping Systems Research Laboratory Wind Erosion and Water Conservation Research Research Publications at this Location





- ARS National Programs
- Search for a scientific manuscript
- Search for a research project
- ARS Software
- Programs and Projects
- Collaborations
- Subjects of Investigation
- Publications

Title:   Author  item
                                            Gitz, Dennisitem
                                            Xin, Zhanguoitem
                                            Baker, Jeffreyitem
                                            Lascano, Robertitem
                                            Burke, John
  Submitted to: Agronomy Journal
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 1/12/2012
                                    Publication  Date: 4/1/2012
                                    Citation: Gitz, D.C., Xin, Z., Baker, J.T., Lascano, R.J., Burke, J.J. 2012. Effect of solar loading on greenhouse containers used in transpiration efficiency screening. Agronomy Journal. 104(2):388-392.Interpretive Summary: The crops we grow depend on irrigation to insure plentiful inexpensive food and fiber. But fresh water for drinking and for irrigating crops is becoming scarce in the United States and around the world. This could limit our food supply or make food much more expensive. We need crops that will produce more food with less water. Earlier we devised a simple method used in the greenhouse to test how efficiently plants use water. In this report we show how to make these tests even more reliably and with higher precision. We found that sunlight can make pots in the greenhouse get very hot. This heat can affect plant growth. We suggest that scientists should check container temperatures in the greenhouse and suggest how to avoid this problem.
                                Technical Abstract: Earlier we described a simple high throughput method of screening sorghum for transpiration efficiency (TE). Subsequently it was observed that while results were consistent between lines exhibiting high and low TE, ranking between lines with similar TE was variable. We hypothesized that variable micro-environmental conditions around individual plants introduced variation in soil temperature and influenced the TE. To test our hypothesis, two sorghum lines, TX-7078 and Liang Tang Ai, were grown in either conventional or in insulated containers and TE was determined as biomass/water transpired. Soil temperatures in sealed conventional thermoplastic containers exceeded 50° C. Plants grown in conventional containers developed more slowly than those grown in insulated containers. Our results showed that the effects of solar loading must be considered when designing TE screening tools or other physiological studies in greenhouses.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov