Arenosols in the Brazilian Cerrado are increasingly being used for agricultural production, particularly maize. These sandy soils are characterized by low soil organic matter, low available nutrients, and poor water-holding capacity. For this reason, adding biochar as a soil amendment could lead to improved water and nutrient retention. A greenhouse experiment was carried out using twelve bioch...

Soil amendments can improve the sustainability of agricultural systems by building soil carbon and improving numerous other soil health indicators, including soil structure, water infiltration and retention, bulk density, nutrient availability, and microbial activity. This chapter covers some general considerations relevant to the use of soil amendments followed by a discussion of biosolids, an...

the management of water table is introduced as one of the major parts of the solutions in water resources management. this method could play a significant role in protecting water resources, increasing irrigation efficiency, preserving nutrients in soil, and protecting the quality of surface downstream, and as well, of groundwater. towards this end, a laboratory study has been done on the effec...

Synthetic polymer was exploited as water-superabsorbent hydrogel and helped to conserve water in the agricultural soil. The hydrogel polymers were synthesized the carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and starch in addition to SiO2 nanoparticles. Superabsorbent hydrogel polymer having 35% water retention ability was analyzed with three replicates. Hydrogel increased the water restoration capability of ...

Numbers of greenroofs in urban areas continue to grow internationally; so designing greenroof soil to reduce the amount of nutrients in the stormwater runoff from these roofs is becoming essential. This study evaluated changes in extensive greenroof water discharge quality and quantity after adding biochar, a soil amendment promoted for its ability to retain nutrients in soils and increase soil...

This paper at first reports an experimental work to test the thermal conductivity of formulated sandy soil specimens of different porosities and water contents. Both needle probe and hot-plate methods were conducted and compared. It has been confirmed that the needle probe method has a better accuracy for the measurement of unsaturated soil thermal conductivity, and that the pore size distribut...