Lecture 1 - Agricultural Sustainability, Water Footprints & Drought Tolerance Glossary

Double Cropping

Two crops on the same land in a calendar year

Evaporative demand

How dry the atmosphere is, determined by relative humidity & temperature

Evapotranspiration

Water loss by evaporation (soil) & transpiration (plant)

Grafted plant

Plant with genetically distinct scion & rootstock constructed by surgery

Harvest Index

Harvest Index

Passioura Identity

Equation to partition yield into component processes

Phenology

Crop development (= germination, growth, flowering, grain filling)

Rootstock

Genetic identity of root system of grafted plant

Sap Flow

Movement of water from roots to shoots = Transpiration stream

Scion

Genetic identity of shoot system of grafted plant

Silking

Appearance of maize silks = female part of maize flower

Staygreen

Crop retains green leaf area at end of cropping cycle

Stomata

Pores formed by 2 guard cells, mostly on underside of leaf

Stomatal conductance

Regulates photosynthesis (CO2 uptake) & transpiration (H2O loss) through the stomata – determined by stomatal aperture & density