Commercial versus synthesized polymers for soil erosion control and growth of Chinese cabbage

Abstract

Soil erosion leads to environmental degradation and reduces soil productivity. The use of anionic polyacrylamide (PAM) and synthesized biopolymer (BP) using lignin, corn starch, acrylamide, and acrylic acid were tested to evaluate soil erosion, water quality, and growth of Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L.). Each treatment of PAM and BP was applied at 200 kg ha-1 to loamy sand soil and subjected to a slope of 36% with a 20 mm h-1 simulated rainfall. Application of BP decreased soil pH compared to the untreated check (CK); however, the soil pH was not altered with PAM. The decrease in pH might most likely be due to availability of anionic sites to be protonated on soils having pH >6 and soil buffering capacity. Both PAM and BP applications may not induce eutrophication with stable levels of total contents of N and P. With PAM and BP, the average values of suspended soil (SS) and turbidity were reduced by up to 96.0 and 99.9%, respectively, compared to CK. Reduction of SS can be attributed to increasing soil stability and shear strength by clay flocculation. There was no toxicity effects resulting from germination tests and the dry weight was increased by 17.7% (vs. CK) when PAM and BP were applied. These results are attributed to increases in water retention and plant-available water. The use of polymeric soil amendments is an environmentally friendly way to mitigate soil erosion and nonpoint source pollution.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-534) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Superabsorbent hydrogels based on polysaccharides for application in agriculture as soil conditioner and nutrient carrier: A review

“…They also indicated that these SH are potential candidates to be applied as an alternative to combat of global climate change because they can improve the soil properties, mainly in conditions of reduced moisture availability. Other authors investigated the applicability of the polymers, common hydrogels and SH as strategies to improve the soil properties [184][185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195][196][197][198][199][200][201].…”

Effects of a super absorbent polymer on soil properties and plant growth for use in land reclamation

“…It is important to note that soil and water conservation are strongly linked (Wang et al 2015). Soil erosion is a natural process resulting primarily from water and wind action (Lee et al 2013) and is highly dependent on soil water content (Ramos and Mart ınez-Casasnovas 2007). Therefore, to achieve sustainable food production and to reduce soil loss through erosion, different agricultural practices have been adopted in arid and semi-arid regions to increase soil water holding capacity (Chen et al 2016).…”

Management of pruning residues for soil protection in olive orchards

“…In particular case of olive orchards, this effect is even greater, because adventitious flora is frequently removed through tillage in order to reduce the competition for water with the olive tree (Espejo‐Pérez, Rodríguez‐Lizana, Ordóñez, & Giráldez, ). This practice increases the soil erosion risk (Fernández‐Romero, Parras‐Alcántara, Lozano‐García, Clark, & Collins, ; Lee, Chang, Chang, & Ok, ), because it leaves it unprotected against heavy rains (Pastor, ). The result is a strong hydraulic erosion, which produces substantial soil loss in olive orchards (Cerdà, Lavee, Romero‐Díaz, Hooke, & Montanarella, ; Gómez et al, ), getting over 400 Mg ha −1 in some extreme downpours (Vanwalleghem & Giráldez, ).…”