Impact of Bentonite, Biochar and Compost on Physical and Hydro-Physical Properties of a Sandy Soil

Abdel-Motaleb, Mohamed A.; Abdel-Hady, Emad S.; Zaghloul, Abdallah K.; Abdel Ghany, Gamal B.; Sheta, Mohamed H.

doi:10.21608/ejss.2024.340842.1929

Impact of Bentonite, Biochar and Compost on Physical and Hydro-Physical Properties of a Sandy Soil

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Soils and Water Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11884, Egypt.

² Ecology and Dry Land Agriculture Division, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.

³ Soil Chemistry and Physics Department, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.

10.21608/ejss.2024.340842.1929

Abstract

Sandy soils have a coarse texture with large particles, which results in large pores that allow water to drain quickly through the soil profile. This makes sandy soils prone to dryness, as they do not retain water and, consequently, do not retain nutrients. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of bentonite, biochar, and compost as soil amendments on particle size distribution, organic matter, bulk density, particle density, total porosity, soil water retention, available water, hydraulic conductivity, and pore size distribution of sandy soil. Application rates were (T1: control; T2: bentonite 2%; T3: bentonite 3%; T4: bentonite 4%; T5: biochar 0.5%; T6: biochar 1%; T7: biochar 1.5%; T8: compost 5 ton fed–1; T9: compost 10 ton fed–1; T10: compost 15 ton fed–1). Furthermore, mixtures (T11: bentonite 3% + biochar 1%; T12: biochar 1% + compost 10 ton fed–1; T13: bentonite 3% + compost 10 ton fed–1; T14: bentonite 3% + biochar 1%+ compost 10 ton fed–1). The results revealed that adding soil amendments improves soil's physical and hydro-physical properties compared to the control (without application). The application of amendments has reduced soil bulk density (BD), hydraulic conductivity (HC), and quickly drainable pores (QDP). Conversely, there was a significant increase in soil organic matter (OM), available water (AW), water holding pores (WHP), soil water retention (SWR), and improving particle size distribution compared to the untreated soil (T1). These results indicate that adding soil amendment enhances the texture of the sandy soil by increasing the fine colloidal particles in the soil complex, thus enhancing pore size distribution (PSD), improving soil properties, and retaining soil water. This ultimately reflects positively on the soil quality and crop production.

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