Effects of natural and synthetic soil conditioners on soil moisture retention and maize yield

Abstract

The efficacy of a natural soil conditioner, Coco-Peat (C-P), and synthetic soil conditioners, Terawet (T-200) and Teraflow (T-F), in improving soil moisture content were examined on five Ghanaian soil series (Akroso, Akuse, Amo, Hake and Oyarifa). In general, the water retention of T-200 and C-P treated soils were similar but significantly higher (p < 0.001) than that of T-F and the control (C-T) treated soils, which were also similar on all the test soils. The dry matter yields of the test crop (maize) were 5.4, 5.2, 4.5 t ha -1 on T-200, C-P and T-F treated soils, respectively, on Akroso series. These yields were 36%, 31% and 5%, respectively, more than those of the control treatment. On Akuse series even though T-200 and T-F gave higher dry matter yields than the control, the differences were not significant, only C-P treatment gave significantly higher (p < 0.001) yield than the control. On Amo series, dry matter yields of 6.1, 5.8 and 4.9 t ha -1 on T-200, C-P and T-F treated soils, respectively, were 38%, 31% and 10% more than the control treatment. On Hake series, T-200, C-P and T-F treatments improved dry matter yields by 45%, 32% and 12%, respectively, over that of the control. The greatest effect of the polymeric absorbents was observed on the sandy/clay/loam Oyarifa series. The treatments T-200, C-P and T-F improved dry matter yields by 92%, 81% and 4%, respectively, over the control treatment. The results indicate that the differences in yields over the control were due to the improved water retention ability of the soils amended with the polymeric absorbents.

Water availability in different soils in relation to hydrogel application

“…Synthetic soil conditioners also possess great potential for restoring soil productivity where the opportunity for irrigation is limited. It has been found that the water storage at different tensions improved significantly in sandy soil treated with gel conditioner (Abedi-Koupai et al, 2008;Choudhary et al, 1995;Huttermann et al, 1999;Yangyuoru et al, 2006). It was also reported that the use of hydrogel increased the amount of available moisture in the root zone, resulting in longer intervals between irrigations (Abedi- Koupai et al, 2004;Allahdadi et al, 2005;El-Hady et al, 2009;Flannery and Busscher, 1982;Sharma, 2004).…”

Mitigating moisture stress in Brassica juncea through deficit irrigation scheduling and hydrogel in ustocherpts soils of semi-arid India

“…Under deficit water availability, recent water management techniques, viz. precise irrigation scheduling, fertigation, and use of superabsorbent polymers with high water holding capacity, bio-compatibility, and synthetic flexibility raise new hopes to enhance crop productivity and WUE under declining water resources by improving water relations in sandy soils ( Seliktar, 2012 ; Dai et al., 2017 ; Yangyuoru et al., 2006 ). Under limited irrigation water availability, the use of synthetic polymers improves water availability to plants by restricting the drainage of water beyond the root zones ( Narjary et al., 2012 ).…”

Effects of clinoptilolite zeolite on phosphorus dynamics and yield of Zea Mays L. cultivated on an acid soil

“…It is characterized as having large sorption and ion-exchange capacity, ion-exchange selectivity, properties of a molecular sieve, catalytic activity, and structural thermal stability at temperatures of up to 700–750°C. Zeolites do not easily break down over time and therefore, they remain in the soil to improve nutrients retention [ 12 ]. Besides, their hydrated amorphous silica skeleton are able to retain water and beneficial nutrients in the root zone and significantly reduce water and fertilizer costs [ 13 ].…”