Studying Some Characteristics of Sandy Soil Amended by Water Hyacinth, Bean straw, and Compost

Two field experiments were carried at the Ismailia agricultural research station during the summer seasons of 2018 and 2019 to study some characteristics of sandy soil treated by three types of additives and cultivated by maize. Additives mixed with soil were the dried water hyacinth, straw of faba bean and compost each is loaded by 25, 50, and 100% of the recommended dose of nitrogen N and phosphorous P mineral fertilizers. Different treatments including control were distributed in a complete randomized block design with three replicates. Water holding capacity (%), field capacity (%), electrical conductivity (dSm-1), bulk density (g cm-3), cation exchange capacity (cmolc kg-1) and organic matter (%) content of soil before cultivation and after harvesting were estimated. Maize yield (kg ha-1) and some yield components were also calculated for different treatments. Results indicated that after harvesting, water-holding capacity (%) increased significantly by 20% using dried water hyacinth, non-significantly by 10 and 5% using bean straw and compost, respectively, compared to control at 100% NP application rate. Field capacity increased by 37.5% using dried water hyacinth and bean straw and by 12.5% using compost compared to the control. Non-significant change was observed in soil EC (dSm-1) neither before planting nor after harvesting. The application rate 100% NP showed the least bulk density values significantly decreased by 7.78% for compost, 4.44% for dried water hyacinth, and by 2.78% for bean straw compared to the control. At application rates 50 and 100% NP, compost treatments provided the maximum available P and K in soil followed by dried water hyacinth then bean straw. At application rate 100% NP, yield of maize dry matter (kg ha-1) significantly increased by 120.34, 116.96, 27.44% for dried water hyacinth, bean straw, compost, respectively. Seed yield (kg ha-1) increased significantly by 136.3, 135.85, and 33.63% for bean straw, dried water hyacinth, and compost, respectively.