Environmentally Friendly Soil Water Conservation Techniques
M. Almetwally1, H Soussa2, Ehab M. Fattouh3
1Mohamed Almetwally, Water and Hydraulic Structure Department, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
2Hoda Soussa, Water and Hydraulic Structure Department, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
3Ehab Moustafa Fattouh, Water and Hydraulic Structure Department, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. Email: ihab_mostafa@eng.asu.edu.eg
Manuscript received on September 23, 2019. | Revised Manuscript received on October 15, 2019. | Manuscript published on October 30, 2019. | PP: 5513-5520 | Volume-9 Issue-1, October 2019 | Retrieval Number: A2045109119/2019©BEIESP | DOI: 10.35940/ijeat.A2045.109119
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: The conservation of water resources through their optimal use is a compulsory for countries with water shortages in the arid and semi-arid regions, and it should be in an environmentally friendly manner to avoid the serious consequences of the use of environmentally harmful substances, the implications of which are currently evident from climate change, pollution of water bodies, soils, etc. Since Egypt is one of those countries suffering from water scarcity and uses about 82.5 percent of its water consumption in agriculture, according to data of the Ministry of Irrigation in 2010, so this research is focusing on the use of new methods to increase the efficiency of irrigation water, to achieve high productivity of agricultural crops with less water use that will certainly help to alleviate or solve the water scarcity issue. The study used a physical based model, to simulate the methods used to increase sand soil properties to ensure larger water retention index. Within this work, soil have been sampled from different areas, to simulate the behavior of arid lands, under different water retention techniques. Soil was exposed to different techniques, as it was mixed with soil additives in different quantities and different types. Physical barriers of cohesive soil and polyethylene sheets were used in addition to studying the effect of mulch on water storage capacity in non-cohesive soil. Water retention have been measured using the direct method of determination soil water content by oven drying and the volumetric water content (𝞱v) with time graphs have been plotted in groups, as well as the cultivated plants have been monitored as to measure the influence on plants growing and irrigation efficiency. And the experiment showed that the use of rice straw (RS) and wheat straw (WS) in the powder condition have a significant effect in increasing in the soil water content and even to the plant growth, the WS obtained 𝞱v values approaching the loam soil at times and slightly less in the case of RS, when the percentage of RC and WS was 30% to the sandy soil volume/volume (v/v). Also the use of mulch of RS showed a noticeable increase in 𝞱v and significant improvement of plant growth to that without mulch. These proven technologies can be used in sandy land targeted for reclamation to reduce water use in agriculture.
Keywords: Agriculture Waste, Environmentally Friendly, Soil Water Conservation, Sustainability.