Soil Moisture Content

• The water that is held within the soil is called soil water or soil moisture. The water is held in soil pores.
• The water is retained in soil by the force of adhesion and cohesion, and surface tension which is called soil moisture tension.
• The two types of forces are acting on soil moisture.

The positive forces enhance the soil’s affinity for water which include force of adhesion and cohesion whereas the negative forces remove the water from the soil surface includes gravity, actively growing plant roots and evaporative demand of atmosphere. Thus, the soil moisture is the net result of these positive and negative forces.