Glasshouse study of a sprayable, degradable polymer to reduce water use in cotton establishment
Priscilla Johnston
A D , Michael Braunack B , Philip S. Casey A , Keith L. Bristow C and Raju Adhikari A
A CSIRO Manufacturing, Bayview Avenue, Clayton, Vic. 3168, Australia.
B CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Locked Bag 59, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia.
C CSIRO Agriculture and Food, PMB Aitkenvale, Townsville, Qld 4814, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: pree.johnston@csiro.au
Soil Research 58(4) 379-387 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR19306
Submitted: 23 October 2019 Accepted: 11 January 2020 Published: 18 February 2020
Journal Compilation © CSIRO 2020 Open Access CC BY
Abstract
This glasshouse pot experiment demonstrated that a new sprayable and degradable polymer reduced soil water evaporation and promoted cotton seedling emergence and establishment. The polymer was tested on two contrasting soils (sandy loam and clay), representative of those used to grow cotton in Australia. Changes in soil water content in non-treated and polymer-treated pots were monitored over 80 days, after surface or subsurface watering. Plant biomass, soil water content and soil chemical properties were determined at harvest. The polymer reduced soil water evaporation by up to 35% in sandy loam and up to 20% in clay, did not compromise seedling emergence and improved plant growth per unit water applied by up to 26.2%. The polymer underwent extensive degradation after 80 days to produce low molecular-weight polymers or oligomers and water-extractable silicon species that may have implications for plant nutrition.
Additional keywords: clay, mulch, sandy loam, sprayable polymer, water use efficiency.
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