Screening of Soil Amendments for Efficient Water-Holding Capacity Based on a Rainfall-Infiltration Model in a Vertisol
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 5
Abstract
A simulation study was conducted with five soil amendments, viz., goat manure, coir pith, phosphogypsum, polyacrylamide, and a control at two rainfall intensities of 60 and under dry and wet soil conditions in a clay loam vertisol with the objective of identifying a superior soil amendment for maximum infiltration and suitable soil aggregate stability. The -test based on analysis of variance of infiltration data indicated that soil amendments, rainfall intensities, and soil conditions were significantly different from each other. Based on least significant difference test, polyacrylamide was found to be superior with a significantly higher infiltration, compared to all other amendments. An exponential model of infiltration over a time interval was calibrated for each soil amendment under dry and wet soil conditions. Based on the model, polyacrylamide and phosphogypsum were found to have a better soil aggregate stability compared to other soil amendments. The exponential model gave a significant predictability of instantaneous infiltration ranging from 0.75 to 0.99 under different situations. A grouping of treatments based on mean and coefficient of variation of infiltration in comparison with soil aggregate stability values indicated that polyacrylamide was superior under different situations in the study. Phosphogypsum was found to be the second best soil amendment with a relatively lower infiltration compared to polyacrylamide, but with a better soil aggregate stability compared to other soil amendments. Coir pith, goat manure, and control gave a significantly lower infiltration with a relatively higher variation compared to polyacrylamide and phosphogypsum, and also had a relatively lower soil aggregate stability under different situations examined in the study.
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Acknowledgments
The writers are extremely grateful to the two referees, who have provided excellent suggestions for improving the quality of the paper.
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 133 • Issue 5 • October 2007
Pages: 468 - 474
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 9, 2006
Accepted: Apr 19, 2007
Published online: Oct 1, 2007
Published in print: Oct 2007
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