A device that infiltrated water over a small circular surface area having a radius ranging between 1.45 mm and 2.5 mm was used to measure the sorptivity of initially air-dry aggregates of size greater than 20 mm. The small infiltration area caused the water uptake to be dominated by capillarity that allowed the use of a simple formula to obtain the sorptivity from the steady-state flow rate that occurred very early after the start of imbibition. The results of measurements of sorptivity made on a fine sand agreed with those obtained from measurements on one-dimensional water infiltration into columns of the sand. Sorptivity measurements on stabilized aggregates of a clay soil and on air-dried field aggregates of a clay soil were easily made. The simplicity and rapidity of the method allowed measurements to be conveniently replicated.
This research was carried out to achieve the objective of finding out the performance of a developed potato storage system in storage life and nutritional quality and comparing the system to the traditional practice in Bangladesh. A laboratory version of improved design of potato store and its construction was made at Bangladesh Agricultural University which consisted an evaporative cooling chamber, made of reinforced concrete cement; partially filled-in with water. Two varieties of potato (Diamant and Lal Pakri) were used in this research. Both large and small types for each kind of potato varieties were taken. Experimental design was set up for both improved storage bin and farmer's traditional practice. Spoilage, sprouting, shrinkage, moisture content, vitamin C, and total sugar content of potato were determined for both methods of storage at a regular interval and results were compared. Economic benefit of the developed storage system over traditional practice was also determined. From the result of the study, it appeared that the improved potato storage bin was better in shelf life and nutritional quality for storing potato than the farmer's traditional practice.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.