Management of Cracking Puddled Soils and its Impact on Infiltration

A study of cracking soils management was conducted in the wet soil bin with nine soil management practice treatments to investigate their impact on infiltration rate. The treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCB) with three replications. It is observed that the management of cracking soils, even at an early stage of crack initiation, has a great influence on infiltration rate. Among the management practices, the hand hoe operation was found to be better than trampling to reduce the cracks when the crack width was 10 mm. It is also observed that there is no influence of crack number on infiltration if a soil management practice is included with irrigation. The study reveals that with a soil management practice, the cracks reduced or were removed in a short period of time even though the cracks were 10 mm wide. In contrast, without soil management, cracks remained open for a long period even after ponding. By practicing soil management during irrigation, a large volume of water can be saved which my help to bring more area under irrigation particularly where there are limited water resources.