Effect of Depth and Intensity of Puddling on Quality of Soil Puddle

Puddlability of seven alluvial soils of Punjab, varying in texture and organic carbon content was determined in a column study. The treatments included 3 depths of puddling viz. 5, 10 and 15 cm, and 2 intensities of puddling viz. low and high, respectively. The dispersion of soil due to puddling was least in coarse textured soils and highest in fine textured soils. Cumulative settling of suspended particles in one hour varied from 0.50 cm in clay soil to 2.13 cm in silt loam and 2.98 cm in sandy loam. Puddling decreased the percolation rate of water by up to 92 per cent depending on the depth and intensity of puddling and soil texture. Soils with higher organic matter content responded more to puddling in terms of reduction in percolation rate. A puddling depth of 10 cm at high intensity of puddling was more effective in reducing rate of settling of suspended particles and percolation rate. Puddling decreased the bulk density of the surface 0–4 cm soil layer, but increased it in the lower layers. The decrease in the surface was about 0.2 units at 6 cm depth in the clay soil followed by 0.11 units in silt loam and 0.07 unit in sandy loam. The effects were more pronounced when the puddling intensity was high. Puddling led to accumulation of clay and organic matter near the surface. Puddling depth of 10 cm at low intensity increased the clay content at the surface from 60 to 85, 11 to 17 and 10 to 20 per cent in clay, silt loam and sandy loam, respectively. The respective increases in organic matter content were 0.78 to 0.84, 0.47 to 0.50 and 0.27 to 0.32 per cent. The accumulations of clay and organic matter content increased with increase in the depth and intensity of puddling. Puddling depth of 10 cm at high intensity decreased pores of > 30 μm size from 31.4 to 24.4 in clay, 48.8 to 36 in silt loam and 60.7 to 48.8 per cent in the sandy loam.