noun
- The portion of soil water that is available for plant absorption, as opposed to water held too tightly by soil particles or water that drains away.
Usage: technical; soil science; rarely used in everyday English
Examples
- The chresard in sandy soils is typically lower than in clay soils.
- Farmers must understand the chresard capacity of their fields to optimize irrigation.
- Plants can only utilize water within the chresard range of the soil profile.