Studies aiming to determine the root depth as, a field parameter for irrigation designs and managements were carried out on beans and wheat crops. A field work was conducted during the winter of 1989 in a podzolic soil, under central pivot irrigation, at the Experimental Station of Votuporanga, Instituto Agronômico de Campinas, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Water was applied wheneversoil water tension was 0.05 to 0.06MPa, at 15cm depth, controlled by tensiometer. Three root measurements were made in each crop, with 15 days interval. In each case, five replication samples were taken, within planting row, up to 60cm depth at 10cm intervals using an auger of 7cm diameter. The results indicated that the effective root depth for using in irrigation practice were 30 and 40cm, respectively, for field beans and wheat.
beans; wheat; root distribution; irrigation; center pivot