Understanding of initial infiltration rates and steady state infiltration rates of soil is very important for runoff management and irrigation scheduling. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi in 2018 to evaluate the initial and steady state infiltration rates of soils in Makurdi, Nigeria. Infiltration test was carried out using double ring infiltrometer at eighteen points. Initial and steady state infiltration rates and the cumulative infiltration were then calculated. Soil samples were collected from the adjacent area of the marked points at 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm depths for routine analysis. Undisturbed soil samples were also collected for the measurement of saturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density, total porosity and moisture content determination. Simple descriptive statistic of mean, variance and standard deviation was used to analyze the data. The soils were predominantly sandy loan texture, with percentage sand, silt and clay as 710.7, 118.9, and 170.4 g kg-1 respectively. Soil bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity were 1.40 g cm-3 and 10.27 cm hr-1 at 0 – 15 cm depth, while soil organic carbon and CEC were 0.67 % and 6.62 cmol/kg respectively. The initial infiltration rate ranged from 7.40 - 87.46 mm hr-1 with a mean of 44.09 mm hr-1, meanwhile, the steady state infiltration rate ranged between 4.99 – 22 mm hr-1, with a mean value of 15.42 mm hr-1. High soil bulk density caused moderate to low infiltration capacity. The mean values for the steady state infiltration rate suggest that the soils of the study area have moderate infiltration capacity, therefore, water application for irrigation should be less or equal to the infiltration capacity of the soils to minimize water loss by surface runoff and erosion.
Arsenic (As) contamination in groundwater is a severe and widespread problem in Bangladesh and their exposure cause a serious health hazard in human history. A pot experiment was conducted in the net-house of the Department of Soil Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh using fourteen cultivars of rice (Summer rice) to evaluate the effects of varying levels of As contamination on growth, yield and grain As contents. Arsenic contamination adversely affected tillering, filled grains, grain yield and straw yield of all rice cultivars, however, the effect varied among the cultivars. In As control treatment, the highest grain yield (75.66 g pot-1) was observed in BR 11 while the lowest grain yield (8.73 g pot-1) was in BRRI dhan4. Application of 20 ppm As to the soil resulted in complete death of BR 11, BRRI dhan30, BRRI dhan33, BRRI dhan34, BRRI dhan41, Binadhan-4, Biroy and Kalizeera cultivars. Arsenic contamination significantly increased As concentration in grain for all cultivars of rice. Arsenic concentration on rice grains grown in soils without As contamination ranged from 0.06 ppm in BR 11 to 0.13 ppm in BRRI dhan32 and BRRI dhan41, while such values ranged from 0.231 ppm in Kalizeera with 10 ppm As to 0.743 ppm in BRRI dhan40 with applied 20 ppm As to soils. Among the 14 rice cultivars BRRI dhan32, BR 11 and Najirshail appeared to be more tolerant to As contamination.
Synthesized composites were characterized through UV-spectrophotometer, XRD, SEM, EDX and FTIR analysis. SEM and EDX images confirmed surface morphology of ordinary mesoporous nano silica (mNs) and Fe & Zn embedded mNs. In XRD pattern of mNs peaks absence indicate that nano silica synthesized by sol-gel method was amorphous whereas reduced graphene oxide (rGO) synthesized in crystalline form. FTIR spectra of Zn and Fe loaded mNs and rGO showed that encapsulation of zinc and iron by mNS and rGO was successful. Results of experiment indicate, twice foliar application of 60 ppm Zn+ 30 ppm Fe through mNs (T6) and 40 ppm Zn+20 ppm Fe through rGO (T8) exhibited significantly higher economic and biological yields of both crops over conventional and Control. With increasing doses of nano zinc and iron through mNs composite capsules, significant increase in nutrients content and uptake by cabbage and cauliflower was observed in comparison to control. Whereas, increasing doses of nano zinc and iron application through rGO lead to a considerable reduction in nutrient content and thus hamper their uptake. Thus, T6 and T8 treatments were best pronounced in terms of yields, nutrients uptake and enriching biomass by iron and zinc content in cabbage and cauliflower, respectively. Compared to control, quality of cabbage head and cauliflower curd biomass in terms of Fe and Zn content, protein and phenol content were significantly more with 40 ppm Zn+20 ppm Fe (T8) and 60 ppm Zn+30 ppm Fe (T6) through rGO and mNs , respectively. Available zinc and iron in soil was unaffected by application of zinc and Fe through mNs and rGO in crops.
Yasser Thabet A. Moustafa, Nabil S. A. Mustafa, Mohamad F. El-Dahshouri, Sameh Mohamed Mohamed El-Sawy Ghonim, Raghda Zuhair, Lixin Zhang, M. A. Hassoub
Climatic change and its negative impacts may consider as one of the big global challenges, and eliminate soil and water availability time by time. Adding organic fertilizers (i.e. vermicompost) as soil amelioration may consider as one of effective approaches in order to recover soil degradation and enhance water retention in soil. Through vermicomposting, agro-wastes are converted into vermicompost that rich in humus, growth promoters (i.e. amino acids, growth hormones) and nutrients. Obtained results of this study indicated that these agro-wastes resulted in varying of physiochemical parameters and vermicompost content of amino acids and growth promoters. Whereas, adding Saw Dust (SD) to Cow dung (CD) during vermicomposting resulted in raising Organic matter and N content. Meanwhile, adding SD to Fish Sludge (FS) resulted in increment in C:N ratio and P content in vermicompost. Besides, adding Taro leaf (TL) to cow dung during vermicomposting led to increment in amino acids. In addition, adding Sugar Beet (SB) to cow dung during vermicomposting resulted in raising Abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellins (GA3) content. Moreover, these different agro-wastes resulted in varying microbial activity and the highest activities produced when TL adding to FS during vermicomposting. Finally, these different agro-wastes led to differing in antimicrobial activity in produced vermicompost. From the results of the study, research team concluded that there is a great potential to produce vermicompost with specific quality that may play a crucial role in combat climatic change particularly reinforce tolerant plant to drought stress.
Background: In newly reclaimed areas, some improper farming practices like using heavy machines in tillage, adding excessive quantity of fertilizers, irrigation by flooding method and intensity cultivation could affect the soil physical properties.
Objective: Therefore, eighty soil samples were collected from the twenty-seven profiles to evaluate the change of soils' physical properties at four locations (A, B, C and D) after different improper soil managements.
Methods: The study area is located in Al-Qasasin, Ismailia Governorate, Egypt northern tip of it extended between latitudes 30° 33' 1.147" N and 30° 28' 16.096" N, and longitudes 32° 4' 12.984" E and 32° 4' 15.696" E, with total area of 144.25 km2 (34345.1 Feddan) which falls in the semi-arid zone. Profile depth, soil texture, total porosity (TP), bulk density (BD), hydraulic conductivity (HC) and infiltration rate (IR) were determined according to the standard procedures.
Results: According to the values of general mean of the studied properties in the four locations, BD takes the order: C>B>A>D. While the TP take the opposite trend of BD (D>A>B>C), on the other hand, both HC and IR follow the same order: C>A>B>D. These results attributed to that the locations B and D using surface flooding irrigation system, while A and C locations using sprinkler and drip irrigation systems, respectively. In addition to the intensive cultivation and the conventional tillage planting system are used in the B and D locations. Where the tillage tools like heavy plows, disks or chisels are used seasonally. While in A and C sites light tillage and orchards planting only are used commonly.
Conclusion: These findings should be considered in future research to improve the soil management programs in these examined areas particularly the fourth location that should stop flooding technique and terns to the drip or sprinkler method.
