Journal of Water and Land Development

Abstract

In furrow irrigation, the maximum lateral movement of water in ridges is more desirable than the vertical downward movement. This can be achieved by compacting the furrows. Thus, the study examines the impact on furrow soil compaction by tractor wheel trafficking during mechanical operations in the different soil types. In this experiment, the three-wheel tractor compaction includes: 1) control (no soil compaction), 2) compaction through 3-wheel tractor passes, and 3) compaction through 6-wheel passes under three different soil textural classes such as: clay loam, silty clay loam and silty loam soils. The impact of various treatments on clay loam, silty clay loam, and silty loam under 3-and 6-wheel passes showed increased bulk density (7-12%), field capacity (9-19%), ridge storage efficiency (35-38%), water use efficiency (16-20.5%) and decreased soil porosity (7-16%), infiltration (8-20%), and furrow storage efficiency (28-41%) over the control. This study shows comparable results of 6-passes with other studies in which more than 6-passes were used to compact the soil. This study suggested that farmers can maximise water use efficiency by compacting their furrows using 6-passes tractor trafficking.