A field experiment was carried out on clayey soil during seasons 1996/1997 and 1997 at El-Gemmeiza Agricultural Research station, El-Gharbia Governorate to find out the effect of some natural soil amendments saw-dust (S.D), Wheat straw (W.S), shell of peanut (S.P), plant residual (P.R), and farmyard manure (FYM) on some physical and hydrophysical soil properties.
Bulk density tended to a significant decrease while total porosity tended to a significant increase with application of the studied amendments as the amendment level in the soil increased. On the other hand, hydraulic conductivity and infiltration rate were significant increased compared with the control treatment. The best treatment was FYM at the application rate of 30 m3/fed.
Application of these amendments caused an increase in moisture content at the different suctions, where the highest values were recorded for the FYM treatment and the lowest ones were obtained with saw-dust application. The higher the amendment content is the greater the water content at any particular suction. The increase in water content was greater at lower suctions than at the higher suctions. The available water storage capacity increased with increasing the added amount of amendment.
The results suggest that these amendments may increase the ability of clayey soil to store water for plant use.