Effects of Organic and Inorganic Soil Conditioners on Soil Moisture in Drylands

Resource conservation in rainfed areas is mainly focused on in-situ rain water harvesting through different agronomic adoption practices. Soil conditioning with the addition of organic and inorganic substances will be an alternative to overcome the problems faced with land configuration measures. It modifies the physico-chemical properties of the soil and acts as a drought resilient mechanism during dry spells. The organic (coir pith and press mud) and inorganic (hydrogel and gypsum) soil conditioners are used to study the soil moisture variations in drylands. The addition of soil conditioners influenced the soil infiltration rate. Hydrogel (2 kg ha-1) ranked highest in storing the moisture compared with other conditioners like gypsum, hydrogel (1 kg ha-1), coir pith and press mud.