Land suitability assessment of soils for rubber and cashew cultivation in the Coastal Area of Bodo City, Rivers State, Southern Nigeria

The research was carried out in Bodo city in Gokana Local Government of Rivers State, Southern Nigeria to evaluate the land suitability for rubber and cashew cultivation using the relevant land suitability guidelines for the cultivation of the two cash crops of interest. Mapping of the 100 ha of land in Bodo city was done using the rigid grid method of soil survey. The three mapping units (summit, middle slope and valley bottom) were identified and delineated. Three representative soil pedons of 2 m x 2 m x 2 m were dug and described by horizon from top to bottom (0 cm to 200 cm). Soil samples were collected from identifiable horizons and processed for laboratory analysis using standard routine laboratory methods most appropriate. The results showed that pedons 1 and 3 covering 86,000 ha of the entire study area were found to be moderately suitable for rubber cultivation with limitation in soil physical characteristics (texture) and fertility (low base saturation < 50 %). Pedon 2 covering 14,000 ha of the total land of the study area was marginally suitable due to limitation in soil fertility (low base saturation < 80 %). Pedon 1, 2, and 3 were also moderately suitable for cashew cultivation in the study area with limitation in soil physical characteristics (texture) and fertility (low organic carbon), while limitation in wetness (poor drainage) was peculiar to pedon 3 only. Thus, soils in the study area were moderately suitable for both rubber and cashew cultivation in the area.

Study of Improving Soil Using Permit, Corn Ash and Sodium Silicate

Soil that has low bearing capacity has a bad impact on the construction that is built on it as a result of which the building is easily damaged such as lifting the foundation on the building and causing cracks and shifting on the road. This research uses experimental laboratory methods. Soil samples used were taken from Lembang Tondon Siba’ta, Tondon District. Corn cobs were taken from Sa’dan Marante, Sodium silicate is obtained from chemical figures and palm fiber taken from Buntu Tagari and then tested for soil physical characteristics and soil bearing capacity in soil samples with a mixture of sodium silicate, corncob ash, palm fiber and soil without mixture. know the bearing capacity of the soil. The results of the research on stabilized soil by adding 0.2% palm fiber, 2% corncob ash and 3% sodium silicate obtained an increase in soil bearing capacity of 9.73% from the original soil and the addition of 0.2% palm fiber, 4% corncob ash and 3% sodium silicate.

Geophysical methods to assess soil characteristics

This chapter explores the use of geophysical methods to assess soil physical characteristics. The chapter begins by reviewing the geophysical properties of soil, such as clay content and organic matter content. It then moves on to discuss the electromagnetic induction method and its application, then examines electrical resistivity and its application. Acoustic-to-seismic coupling is also reviewed in terms of creating a model and its application. The chapter concludes by providing an overview of the several geophysical methods that can be used to measure various characteristics of agricultural soils.

Imaging the root–rhizosphere interface using micro computed tomography: quantifying void ratio and root volume ratio profiles

Root growth alters soil fabric and consequently its mechanical and physical properties. Recent studies show that roots induce compaction of soil in their immediate vicinity, a region that is central for plant health. However, high quality quantification of root influence on the soil fabric, able to inform computational models is lacking from the literature. This study quantifies the relationship between soil physical characteristics and root growth, giving special emphasis on how roots in early stage formation influence the physical architecture of the surrounding soil structure. High-resolution X-ray micro-Computed Tomography (µCT) is used to acquire three dimensional images of two homogeneously-packed samples. It is observed that the void ratio profile extending from the soil-root interface into the bulk soil is altered by root growth. The roots considerably modify the immediate soil physical characteristics by creating micro cracks at the soil-root interface and by increasing void ratio. This paper presents the mechanisms that led to the observed structure as well as some of the implications that it has in such a dynamic zone.

Effect of Compaction and Irrigation Regimes on Soil Physical Characteristics, Emergence, Growth and Productivity of Summer Moongbean

Background: Soil compaction adversely affects mechanical and water transmission characteristics, thus hampering crop growth and productivity. However, under coarse-textured soils, compaction to a certain extent is beneficial concerning restricting water transmission, increasing water retention and improving productivity. The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of compaction and irrigation on soil physical characteristics and productivity of summer moongbean.Methods: A field study was conducted on summer moongbean for two years in loamy sand soil at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India. The treatments comprised three compaction levels i.e. no roller pass (C0), one roller pass (C1) and three roller pass (C3) in main plots and in subplots three irrigation regimes (I0.4, I0.6 and I0.8) with three replicates. Observations included soil bulk density and infiltration rate; seed emergence count, growth traits, yield and yield attributes. Result: Soil bulk density of 5-10 cm depth increased from 1.53 at C0 to 1.62 Mg m-3 at C3. However, infiltration rate of water in soil decreased to 38% with an increase in compaction level from C0 to C3. Seed emergence count was deleteriously affected with increasing compaction level but at 15 DAS, it increased by 33 and 42% at C1 and C3 levels under I0.8 regime as compared to I0.4. Plant height was also minimal at C3 irrespective of irrigation regimes. Compaction reduced the root length density in the surface layers but it increased in the sub-surface layers. Grain and straw yield increased by 15 and 13%, respectively in C1 over C3. An increase in irrigation regimes from I0.4 to I0.8, increased the mean straw and grain yield from 5.10 to 6.10 t ha-1 and 1.13 to 1.32 t ha-1 respectively. However, the irrigation water productivity decreased with an increase in irrigation frequency. These result suggest that compaction up to one roller pass with I0.8 irrigation regime can be beneficial for enhancing grain yield of summer moongbean in loamy sand soil.

Biochar Alters Soil Physical Characteristics, Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Colonization, and Glomalin Production

Soil enhancements such as biochar (BC) are gaining attention as tools to mitigate climate change and also to promote crop growth. However, biochar use can disrupt soil ecosystems by changing the soil’s physical, chemical, and biological properties. The study aimed to determine how biochar influences soil physical changes such as specific surface area (SSA) and water vapor sorption, and how these conditions affect arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) hyphae growth and glomalin production. The study analyzed these factors at different plant phenological phases (i.e., flowering, development of fruit, and ripening of fruit and seed) to better understand the changes within the system while varying biochar amounts. The study also investigated the effect of different soil physical and chemical parameters on mycorrhizal hyphae growth and glomalin production. Four treatments were investigated: 0, 0.5%, 2.5%, and 5.0% (w/w) biochar amended silt loam soil planted with pepper. Soil samples were taken at the beginning and weeks 6, 10, and 12 of the study. The amount of adsorbed water vapor increased with an increasing amount of biochar added to the soils. Compared to control, SSA was significantly higher in all biochar amended treatments based on adsorption data, and only in the highest biochar amended soils for the desorption data at the end of the experiment. The presence of AMF in the roots appeared at week 6 of the experiment and the intensity of AMF root colonization increased with the age of plants. The AMF colonization parameters were significantly lower in BC2.5 compared to all other biochar amended soils. The abundance of intraradical AMF structures was highly correlated with several physicochemical soil parameters, such as SSA, the geometric mean diameter of soil aggregate, soil aggregate sizes, or pH. Glomalin production was negatively correlated with SSA, water vapor adsorption, aggregate stability, aggregate size, total nitrogen, potassium, and organic carbon content of the soil, while positive correlation was observed with bulk density. Increased biochar amount resulted in a significant decrease in glomalin production, concurrent with the age of the plants. Our results highlight the great complexity of interactions between soil physicochemical and biological parameters, and the importance of the time of sampling when biochar is used in soil, as the effects of biochar additions on the plant, soil physical characteristics, and soil microsymbionts vary over time.

Field observations of subsurface flow path evolution over 10 Millennia

&lt;p&gt;Where water goes when it rains, is to a large part controlled by subsurface storage and subsurface flow paths. While these aspects are essential for basic hydrological process understanding, their large spatial and temporal variability makes both systematic studies and extraction of generalizable results challenging.&lt;br&gt;We investigate systematically how subsurface storage and flow paths change during the temporal evolution of hillslopes. In order to do so we selected 4 moraines of different ages (30, 160, 3000 and 10.000 years) in a glacial foreland in the Swiss Alps. We then studied both soil physical characteristics as well as flow path evolution across this chronosequence by extensive sampling and soil physical laboratory analyses on the one hand and 36 in-situ dye tracer experiments (Brilliant Blue) &amp;#160;on the other hand.&lt;br&gt;We find that soil physical characteristics change significantly over the millennia. However, vegetational development seems to have a similarly strong effect on flow path evolution. Flow paths evolve from mainly matrix flow at the youngest moraine to increasingly more dominant preferential flow. At the oldest moraine we furthermore find increased subsurface storage, especially in the now strongly developed organic horizon. At intermediate ages preferential flow is less dominated by flow in macropores but is initiated at the soil surface through spatially variable vegetation and microtopography. With this study we provide a first systematic and detailed study of flow path evolution across the first ten millennia of hillslope evolution.&lt;/p&gt;