Plant roots are crucial for the water uptake and nutrients from soil. Root systems of major agricultural crops are poorly adapted to soils that mostly have poor water holding capacity and nutrient deficiencies. Root traits, such as deep root systems, increased root density in subsoil, increased root hair length and density may contribute to enhanced water and nutrient uptake. However, characterizing root system architecture (RSA) is challenging, as roots are difficult objects to observe and analyse.
Chen et al. (Sun,) studied this question.