Effect of irrigation on physical properties of different soil types

Abstract

Irrigation is an unavoidable operation, when growing of crops is required. Water is essential for the plants to carry out the metabolic activities, and is supplied to the plants through irrigation. The water supplied to the plants also reaches the soil around it, which is also an unavoidable phenomenon, especially in case of flood irrigation. The water present in the soil alters the soil physical properties, such as cone index and bulk density, in a different manner for different soil types. Therefore, the present study was done to find the effect of irrigation on two different soil types. The different soil types under the study were sandy loam and silty loam type. Irrigation was provided to both the soil types and bulk density and cone index, before and after the irrigation treatment, was recorded. It was found that the cone index of both the sandy loam soil and silty loam soil was found to be lower after irrigation was applied to the fields. The bulk density of sandy loam soil was found to be higher, after irrigation than that of before irrigation conditions, but in silty loam soil it was found to be lower after irrigation than that of before irrigation conditions.