scholarly journals Biochar with Alternate Wetting and Drying Irrigation: A Potential Technique for Paddy Soil Management

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 367
Author(s):  
Ahmad Numery Ashfaqul Haque ◽  
Md. Kamal Uddin ◽  
Muhammad Firdaus Sulaiman ◽  
Adibah Mohd Amin ◽  
Mahmud Hossain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Water Retention ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Nutrient Loss ◽  
Soil Productivity ◽  
Wetting And Drying ◽  
Alternate Wetting And Drying ◽  
Growing Period

Over half of the world’s population depends on rice for its calorie supply, although it consumes the highest amount of water compared to other major crops. To minimize this excess water usage, alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation practice is considered as an efficient technique in which soil intermittently dried during the growing period of rice by maintaining yield compared to a flooded system. Continuous AWD may result in poor soil health caused by carbon loss, nutrient depletion, cracking, and affecting soil physical properties. Due to being a potential organic amendment, biochar has a great scope to overcome these problems by improving soil’s physicochemical properties. Biochar is a carbon enriched highly porous material and characterized by several functional groups on its large surface area and full of nutrients. However, biochar’s implication for sustaining soil physicochemical and water retention properties in the AWD irrigation systems has not been widely discussed. This paper reviews the adverse impacts of AWD irrigation on soil structure and C, N depletion; the potential of biochar to mitigate this problem and recovering soil productivity; its influence on improving soil physical properties and moisture retention; and the scope of future study. This review opined that biochar efficiently retains nutrients and supplies as a slow-release fertilizer, which may restrict preferential nutrient loss through soil cracks under AWD. It also improves soil’s physical properties, slows cracking during drying cycles, and enhances water retention by storing moisture within its internal pores. However, long-term field studies are scarce; additionally, economic evaluation is required to confirm the extent of biochar impact.

Long-term effect of biochar on soil physical properties of agricultural soils with different textures

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Zanutel ◽  
Sarah Garré ◽  
Charles Bielders
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Water Retention ◽  
Particle Density ◽  
Sandy Loam ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Term Effect ◽  
Silt Loam ◽  
Long Term Effect

<p>In the context of global soil degradation, biochar is being promoted as a potential solution to improve soil quality, besides its carbon sequestration potential. Burying biochar in soils is known to effect soil physical quality in the short-term (<5 years), and the intensity of these effects depends on soil texture. However, the long-term effects of biochar remain largely unknown yet and are important to quantify given biochar’s persistency in soils. The objective of this study was therefore to assess the long-term effect of biochar on soil physical properties as a function of soil texture and biochar concentration.  For this purpose, soil physical properties (particle density, bulk density, porosity, water retention and hydraulic conductivity curves) were measured in the topsoil of three fields with former kiln sites containing charcoal more than 150 years old in Wallonia (southern Belgium).  The fields had a silt loam, loam and sandy loam texture.  Samples were collected along 3 transects in each field, from the center of the kiln sites outwards. </p><p>Particle density and bulk density slightly decreased as a function of charcoal content. Because particle density and bulk density were affected to a similar extent by charcoal content, total porosity was not affected by the presence of century-old charcoal. Regarding the soil water retention curve, charcoal affected mostly water content in the mesopore range. This effect was strongest for the sandy loam. On the other hand, the presence of century-old charcoal increased significantly the hydraulic conductivity at pF between 1.5 and 2 for the silt loam, while no effect of charcoal was observed for the loamy soil.  The study highlights a limited effect of century-old charcoal on the pore size distribution (at constant porosity) and on the resulting soil physical properties for the range of soils and charcoal concentrations investigated here.  Further research may be needed to confirm the observed trends over a wider range of soil types. </p>

Binary packing theory and the physical properties of aggregates

Soil Research ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 283 ◽  
Author(s):  
KJ Coughlan ◽  
RJ Loch ◽  
WE Fox
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Water Retention ◽  
Void Ratio ◽  
Wetting And Drying ◽  
Compacted Soil ◽  
Soil Mixing ◽  
Swelling Capacity ◽  
Sand Particles ◽  
Clay Percentage ◽  
Coarse To Fine

The objective of this study was to examine variations in the physical properties of non-compacted soil-sand aggregates in terms of binary packing theory. Two soils were used, a swelling black earth and a krasnozem with low swelling capacity, and aggregates with varying clay percentage were prepared by dispersing the soil, mixing with 100-50 �m sand, and wetting and drying. At lower clay percentages, void ratio with increasing clay was greater than that predicted from theory. This was attributed to clay entering between sand junctions and increasing porosity by expanding the coarse matrix. From water retention and swelling data, the transition from coarse to fine matrix occurs in both soils at about 40 % clay. In the fine particle matrix, variation of void ratio in the krasnozem aggregates was as expected from theory. In the black earth, no significant variation in void ratio occurs at clay percentages > 40%. This was attributed to porosity created around the sand particles owing to differential swelling and shrinkage. Results obtained by other workers are explained in terms of binary packing theory and the concepts developed in this paper.

Soil Physical Properties of Tied Ridges in the Sudan Savannah of Burkina Faso

1988 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. R. Hulugalle ◽  
M. S. Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Retention ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Soil Water Retention ◽  
Maize Varieties

SUMMARYThe soil physical properties of tied ridges were measured in a trial, established in 1983, comparing three treatments: handhoe cultivation and planting on the flat; planting directly without any cultivation on tied ridges constructed the previous year; and handhoe cultivation and remoulding of tied ridges constructed the previous year. Two maize varieties and two management levels were used. The soil properties monitored were particle size distribution, penetro-meter resistance in the surface 20 mm, bulk density, water infiltration, soil water retention and soil temperature.Soil physical properties were affected mainly by the type of seedbed. Clay content in the surface 0.05 m was greater with tied ridging, with that in the furrows being higher than that in the ridge slopes. Daily maximum soil temperature was greatest in the flat planted plots and in the ridge slopes of the tied ridged plots. Penetrometer resistance at a soil water content of 0.05 kg kg−1 was greater in the tied ridged plots. Cumulative infiltration after 2 h was greatest with flat planting. The bulk density of ridge slopes in tied ridged plots was less than that in the furrows and in the flat planted plots. Soil water retention was greatest in the furrows of the tied ridged plots. Clay content was the major factor determining all the soil physical properties measured.

scholarly journals Temporary effect of chiseling on the compaction of a Rhodic Hapludox under no-tillage

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 547-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sâmala Glícia Carneiro Silva ◽  
Álvaro Pires da Silva ◽  
Neyde Fabíola Balarezo Giarola ◽  
Cássio Antônio Tormena ◽  
João Carlos de Moraes Sá
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Wetting And Drying ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
Structural Recovery ◽  
One Year ◽  
High Degree

Mechanical chiseling has been used to alleviate the effects of compaction in soils under no-tillage (NT). However, its effect on the soil physical properties does not seem to have a defined duration period. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the behavior of the bulk density (BD) and degree of compaction (DC) at different soil depths, after chiseling in no-tillage, for one year. The experiment was performed in Ponta Grossa, Paraná State, Brazil, using an Oxisol (Rhodic Hapludox). Bulk density and DC were previously measured in an area under NT for 16 years, then immediately after chiseling (CHI) in May 2009, six months after chiseling (CHI6M) in October 2009 and one year after chiseling (CHI12M) in May 2010. In the layers 0.0-0.10, 0.10-0.20 and 0.20-0.30 m, there was a significant BD reduction CHI and a marked increase CHI6M. The BD values measured CHI12M were similar to those before tillage. Chiseling reduced the DC in the layers 0.0-0.10 m and 0.10-0.20 m, but returned to the initial values one year later. During the evaluation periods CHI, CHI6M and CHI12M, the BD increased in the layer 0.30-0.40 m, compared with NT. The highest DC values were observed six months after chiseling; nevertheless the structural recovery of the soil was considerable, possibly due to the high degree of soil resilience and the influence of the wetting and drying cycles detected in the study period. The chiseling effects, evaluated by BD and DC, lasted less than one year, i.e., the beneficial short-term effects of chiseling on the reduction of the surface BD increased the risk of compaction in deeper soil layers.

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