Effect of wetting and drying on structural regeneration of puddled soil

摘要

The effect of repeated wetting and drying and the degrees of drying on structure regeneration of puddled soil were studied on two soils, e.g., a grey clay and a sandy loam soil. Degrees of drying were arranged by sun drying at different periods, e.g.,2-4 days, 5-8 days and 9-12 days drying, which were corresponding to pF 2.1-2.5, 3.1-3.8 and 4.6-6.0 respectively. Five wetting/drying cycles were conducted during this experiment. Measurements on the effect of different degrees of puddling showed thatthe two soils responded quite similar towards partially drying. An increased in the degree of drying resulted in faster improvement of soil structure.. Drying the puddled soil to its air dry water content is very effective in the process of structural regeneration. But this study also showed that the regeneration of puddled soil is possible by partial drying.