Organic soil management reduces soil water repellency

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of agricultural management, related to conventional and organic soil management, on the soil water repellency (SWR). Besides the relation between the agricultural variables and the SWR, the influence of soil organic matter and pH was examined. To classify SWR, the persistence and severity was measured using the water drop penetration time, respectively the water-drop contact angle. Organic soil management was shown to have a significant higher SWR compared to conventional soil management and a strong positive correlation between soil organic matter concentration and SWR was found. The soil pH showed a negative correlation in relation to SWR.