Root Zone Composition Effects on Putting Green Soil Water

The double‐ring infiltrometer is widely used to measure soil saturated hydraulic conductivity in the field. Both the inner ring size and outer ring size (two factors in the buffer index) of an infiltrometer affect the measurements of saturated hydraulic conductivity. Few systematic studies have been conducted to investigate the combined effects of the inner and outer ring sizes of a double‐ring infiltrometer on the measurements of field saturated hydraulic conductivity. A total of 7224 numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the optimum combination of inner and outer ring sizes for reliable saturated hydraulic conductivity measurements by using 24 infiltrometers with six inner ring diameters (10, 20, 40, 80, 120, and 200 cm) and, for each ring diameter, four buffer indices ( b = 0.2, 0.33, 0.5, and 0.71). Results demonstrated that the inner ring size is a more important factor to be considered than the buffer index itself (or the outer ring size) in practice, and a larger inner ring diameter assembled with an outer ring (in most cases, with diameter ≥80 cm and b ≥ 0.33) is recommended to obtain reliable in situ measurement of soil field saturated hydraulic conductivity.

A study was conducted at AAU (Anand Agricultural University), Anand during 2022-24 aimed to standardize sowing time, days to fruit maturity, seed extraction methods and seed yield of brinjal variety Anand Raj. The research included 48 treatment combinations with three sowing dates (1st week of August, September, and October), four fruit maturity periods in 10 days intervals (60-100 days after fruit formation), and four seed extraction methods (manual, 48-hour fermentation, and acid extraction with HCl and H2SO4). The third sowing date (1st week of October) showed the best results in terms of fruit and seed yield parameters, such as highest fruit weight, fruit length, fruit girth, plant height, number of fruits per plant, seeds per fruit, seed yield per fruit, seed yield per plant and Thousand-seed weight. Fruits matured at 81-90 days after formation and the manual seed extraction method were found to be most effective for achieving higher seed yield and quality. Thus, sowing in the first week of October with 81-90 days to fruit maturity and using the manual seed extraction method is recommended for optimal seed yield and quality in brinjal variety Anand Raj.

Sample dimensions effect on prediction of soil water retention curve and saturated hydraulic conductivity

Changes in soil water retention of the surface soil brought about by tillage can significantly alter the amount of rain water that infiltrates into the root zone and is available for plant growth. Soil tillage generally increases porosity and changes the pore‐size distribution, leading to changes in the soil water retention curve and hydraulic conductivities. The objective of this study was to investigate some simple ways of estimating the soil water retention curve of a tilled soil from that of an untilled soil, knowing the change in soil porosity or bulk density due to tillage. The study of literature and empirical analysis of the available data indicated: (i) under field conditions the tillage did not significantly change the air‐entry value of the soil; (ii) tillage increased the absolute value of the slope of the log‐log relationship below the air‐entry value; and (iii) the changes due to tillage in the retention curve occurred only in the larger pore‐size range, approximately between the air‐entry pressure head value and 10 times the air‐entry value. Assuming these observations hold in general, two simple methods of estimating the water retention curve of a tilled soil from that of its untilled condition are proposed. The first method is a simple imposition of the Brooks and Corey function between the air‐entry value and 10 times this value. The second method assumes that the change in soil water content at a given pressure head in the above range of pressure heads was inversely proportional to the value of the pressure head. The tests on four pairs of measured water retention curves on three different soils showed that these methods provided good approximations.

One of the goals of the Saltstone variability study is to identify (and, quantify the impact of) the operational and compositional variables that control or influence the important processing and performance properties of Saltstone mixes. A performance property for Saltstone mixes that is important but not routinely measured is the liquid permeability or saturated hydraulic conductivity of the cured Saltstone mix. The value for the saturated hydraulic conductivity is an input into the Performance Assessment for the SRS Z-Area vaults. Therefore, it is important to have a method available that allows for an accurate and reproducible measurement of permeability quickly and inexpensively. One such method that could potentially meet these requirements for the measurement of saturated hydraulic conductivity is the technique of beam bending, developed by Professor George Scherer at Princeton University. In order to determine the feasibility of this technique for Saltstone mixes, a summer student, David Feliciano, was hired to work at Princeton under the direction of George Scherer. This report details the results of this study which demonstrated the feasibility and applicability of the beam bending method to measurement of permeability of Saltstone samples. This research effort used samples made at Princeton from a Modular Caustic side solvent extraction Unit based simulant (MCU) and premix at a water to premix ratio of 0.60. The saturated hydraulic conductivities for these mixes were measured by the beam bending technique and the values determined were of the order of 1.4 to 3.4 x 10{sup -9} cm/sec. These values of hydraulic conductivity are consistent with independently measured values of this property on similar MCU based mixes by Dixon and Phifer. These values are also consistent with the hydraulic conductivity of a generic Saltstone mix measured by Langton in 1985. The high water to premix ratio used for Saltstone along with the relatively low degree of hydration for MCU based mixes leads to high total and capillary porosities. These two conditions generally lead to higher permeabilities as has been well documented in the literature for typical cementitious pastes in water. Therefore, it is not unexpected that the hydraulic conductivities of these Saltstone mixes are relatively high.

The study was conducted in Monsoon (Transplanted Aman) at BRRI farm, Joydebpur, from 1978–1987, to determine the impact and viability of supplemental irrigation. The results of 8 years of experimentation indicate that the impact of supplemental irrigation mainly depends on rainfall distribution patterns and the last precipitation of the season. Generally, the late transplanted crops suffer from moisture stress when the last rainfall ceases by the first week of October. Under this situation, one timely supplemental irrigation of 60 mm could produce about 58% more yield, and the consequent benefit cost ratio of supplemental irrigation would be 5.3 to 14.5, which is highly profitable. The study reveals that if the last rainfall continues up to the third week of October, the supplemental irrigation is still profitable. When sufficient rainfall occurs in November, there is no need for supplemental irrigation, even in late transplanting, and continuous standing water is not required for rice cultivation provided the rain water can be managed properly.

ABSTRACT: The research was conducted to determine forage yield and some quality characteristics of Hungarian vetch + triticale mixture, sowed in five different times under rainfed conditions of central Anatolia, Turkey. The mixture was sowed in the second, third and fourth week of October, and the first and the second week of November in 2017 and 2018. Depending on the sowing times, plant height (PH) of Hungarian vetch and triticale was between 46.7 and 59.4 cm, and 85.9 and 93.4 cm, respectively. Green forage yield (GFY) was between 1746.2 and 2059.4 kg da-1, dry matter yield (DMY) was between 541.0 and 707.6 kg da-1, crude protein yield (CPY) was between 80.4 and 110.3 kg da-1, digestible dry matter yield (DDMY) was between 340.8 and 453.9 kg da-1, acid detergent fiber (ADF) ratio was between 31.8 and 33.7%, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) ratio was between 44.7 and 49.5%, total digestible nutrient (TDN) was between 57.9 and 60.4% and relative feed value (RFV) was between 118.6 and 133.8. Sowing time had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on PH of triticale, while it has a very significant effect (P < 0.01) on GFY, DMY, CPY, DDMY, NDF ratios and RFV. Delaying the sowing time caused a decrease in the GFY, DMY and quality of the mixture. Results revealed that the first week of October is the most appropriate sowing time to obtain high dry matter yield with high quality under continental climate conditions of the central Anatolia.

The pattern of total nonstructural carbohydrate (TNC) accumulation in strawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duch.) nursery runner plants, cv. ‘Camarosa’, was determined for three growing seasons. Plant growth and fruit production patterns were also evaluated. The experiments were carried out on plants propagated in high latitude (41°50' N) and high elevation (1292 m) nurseries in Siskiyou County, California. Plants were sampled beginning in late summer through early autumn and analyzed for dry mass (DM) and TNC. Plants from different digging dates were established in growth chambers (GC) at UC Davis or fruit evaluation plots in Irvine, California. In the nursery, TNC concentration in storage tissues increased steadily from the second week of September to the third week of October, and crown and root TNC concentration was positively correlated with the accumulation of chilling units (hours ≤7.2°C). The root TNC concentration consistently increased from 6 to 10% DM from mid-September to the first week of October. Transplant growth and fruiting pattern were affected by digging date. Overall, the roots were more sensitive to chilling in terms of TNC accumulation, than the crowns. Therefore, roots would be the appropriate organ for assessing TNC status and potential digging dates of strawberry nursery runner plants early in the fall.

Macropore structure and permeability of clay fill samples from a historic clay fill earthwork

The objective of this study was to evaluate the physical and hydraulic properties of selected inorganic amendments and their mixtures with sand (85:15% v/v), and model how they affect the water movement in sand-based root zones of sports fields. The amendments are composed of: calcined diatomaceous earth materials (Axis and Isolite); zeolites (Clinolite and Ecolite); and calcined clays (Moltan Plus, Profile, and Pro’s Choice). The bulk density, particle density, porosity, particle-size distribution, saturated hydraulic conductivity, water retention and available water-holding capacity were analyzed. A numerical model was applied to simulate soil water movement for a scenario with and without amendment incorporation. The results showed that amendments significantly (P < 0.05) improved the physical and hydraulic properties of root zone. Modeling results revealed reduced surface dryness, higher volumetric water content and storage and higher initial root water uptake rate for the root zones with amendments. These results suggest there are multiple benefits of amended root zones in terms of improvement of the physical and hydraulic properties of sand-based root zones.

Understanding of initial infiltration rates and steady state infiltration rates of soil is very important for runoff management and irrigation scheduling. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi in 2018 to evaluate the initial and steady state infiltration rates of soils in Makurdi, Nigeria. Infiltration test was carried out using double ring infiltrometer at eighteen points. Initial and steady state infiltration rates and the cumulative infiltration were then calculated. Soil samples were collected from the adjacent area of the marked points at 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm depths for routine analysis. Undisturbed soil samples were also collected for the measurement of saturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density, total porosity and moisture content determination. Simple descriptive statistic of mean, variance and standard deviation was used to analyze the data. The soils were predominantly sandy loan texture, with percentage sand, silt and clay as 710.7, 118.9, and 170.4 g kg-1 respectively. Soil bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity were 1.40 g cm-3 and 10.27 cm hr-1 at 0 – 15 cm depth, while soil organic carbon and CEC were 0.67 % and 6.62 cmol/kg respectively. The initial infiltration rate ranged from 7.40 - 87.46 mm hr-1 with a mean of 44.09 mm hr-1, meanwhile, the steady state infiltration rate ranged between 4.99 – 22 mm hr-1, with a mean value of 15.42 mm hr-1. High soil bulk density caused moderate to low infiltration capacity. The mean values for the steady state infiltration rate suggest that the soils of the study area have moderate infiltration capacity, therefore, water application for irrigation should be less or equal to the infiltration capacity of the soils to minimize water loss by surface runoff and erosion.

Effects of subsoil compaction on hydraulic properties and preferential flow in a Swedish clay soil

Choosing Academia Versus Private Practice: Factors Affecting Residents' Career Decisions

The first week of October is the season to announce the winners of the Nobel Prizes of sciences such as Physics, Physiology or Medicine and Chemistry. CientMed celebrates this occasion by inviting two well known Venezuelan scientists to comment on the significance of the last two prizes, and share their corresponding deep knowledge and experience on the techniques, yes, techniques, based on the discoveries recognized this year. We are very fortunate to have among us, here in Caracas, Dr. Flor Pujol, a graduate in biology from Universidad Simón Bolívar, with an MSc and Phil. Sc., from the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research, IVIC. As a full Professor at IVIC, Flor is widely recognized as a leader on the molecular epidemiology and evolution of hepatitis viruses, with singular works on viruses infecting Amerindians from Venezuela. With such a background, Dr. Pujol is in a unique position to comment on the significance of the Nobel Prize of Medicine or Physiology awarded this year to, Harvey J Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M Rice, “For the discovery of hepatitis C virus”. On the same level of expertise but on the novel technique of CRISPR and the Nobel Prize of Chemistry this year, we also invited, Dr. José Luis Ramírez, a well known molecular biologist and a graduate from Universidad Central de Venezuela, with a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, who for many years is recognized as the undisputed leader of genomic studies, on the telomeres of the parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas Disease. The readers of ScienMed may remember the very first article of this journal, on August 5th, 2020, authored by Dr. Ramirez, which anticipated the Nobel Prize of Chemistry 2020, the CRISPR technologies, awarded jointly to, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna, “For the development of a method for genome editing”. We hope that our readers may enjoy both Commentaries by Drs. Pujol and Dr. Ramírez, respectively.

The field experiment was conducted in Wadi El Natrunq (latitude 30.23⁰N, longitude 30.21⁰E, and elevation 17.98 m above sea level), Beheira Governorate, Egypt, during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 growing seasons to study the productivity and quality of sugar beet crop under nano potassium magnetic water and drip irrigation system. The multi-embryo sugar beet variety "Fayrouz" was planted during the first week of October and harvested after 175 days. The field experiment treatments were studied for the effect of magnetic water (MW), and non-magnetic water (nMW). The second treatment used five percentages of potassium with nano potassium, which is (100% potassium, 75% potassium + 25% Nano potassium, 50% potassium + 50% Nano potassium, 25% potassium + 75% nano potassium and 100% nano potassium) respectively. The highest averages of sucrose remaining sugar in molasses, extracted sugar, and quality index were recorded (20.24, 2.27, 17.42, and 88.29) % respectively, with magnetic water by adding (75% potassium + 25% nano potassium). The highest productivity of root and the amount of sugar produced by the crop were (13.88 and 2.41) tons.fed-1, with magnetic water and adding (75% potassium + 25% nano potassium). It was the highest efficiency (8.73, and 6.52) kg.m-3 for the first and second seasons, respectively, with magnetic water and the addition of (75% potassium + 25% nano potassium).