Puddling Efficiency for Rice Root Growth in a Cohesive Soil

A laboratory study was conducted to determine the influence of water-soil ratio on the ease of puddling air-dried aggregates. Soil puddling was carried out using a rotary stirrer simulating the ratio)' motion of a rotary cultivator commonly used in wetland preparation. The stirrer was driven by an electric motor at a speed of 2000 rev/min. Four water-soil ratios were tested at three different stirring times. The results obtained showed that the fastest dispersion of particles resulting in a minimum wet bulk density of 1.23 Mg/m3 , was achieved at a water-soil ratio of 1.2. Increasing the water-soil ratio above this value did not change the wet bulk density value for all stirring times. Increasing the water-soil ratio above 1.0 did not increase the percentage of aggregate breakdown significantly for aggregates below 0.5 mm diameter. The effect of stirring time on the percentage of aggregate breakdown for aggregates below 0.5 mm diameter, however, was significant at all water-soil ratios when the input energy was 0.084 and 0.168 watt-hours.

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