Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 .Sc. Student, Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Khuzestan, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran.
3 Associate Professor, Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Khuzestan, Iran
4 Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy, Collge of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Khuzestan, Iran
Abstract
Superabsorbent polymers are water containers that absorb and retain large quantities of water when applied to the soil. These materials release the absorbed water, allowing the plants to consume adequate amounts of water at all growth stages. One of the best options for increasing the irrigation efficiency and better application of precipitation in arid and semi-arid areas are application of superabsorbent polymers to soil. Different sizes of particles of a superabsorbent polymer were compared on the soil water retention capacity. The study adopted a factorial experimental design based on a completely randomized design in loamy sand and clay loam soil with three replications. There were 7 treatments of water absorbent material including control (without the water absorbent material) and superabsorbent Taravat A200 in 6 sizes (0.21-0.25, 0.25-0.5, 0.5-1, 1-2, 2-3.4 and 3.4-4.75 millimeter, each at 2g per kg soil). Then soil water content was measured for each treatment at suctions 0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 3, 5 and 15 bar and the soil moisture curves were plotted separately. The results showed that there was a significant difference among treatments and two soil textures in various suctions and the interaction of these factors at the level of %1. Also, it was observed that the superabsorbent polymer 1-2 mm compared with other treatments resulted in increase the soil water holding capacity, significantly especially in the light soil texture.
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