Soil shrinkage and sealing index are important for understanding water and solute transport in soils. Effects of long-term cultivation systems on the soil shrinkage, sealing and hydro-physical properties of Vertisols in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, Northern Egypt were studied. The cultivation systems were fruit trees (FT), field crops (FC), vegetables crops (VC), and non-cultivated soil (NC). Forty eight samples were collected from sixteen soil profiles (three layers: 0-30, 30-60 and 60-100 cm) from different locations. The studied parameters included coefficient of linear extensibility (COLE), shrinkage ratio (SR), potential linear extensibility (PLE), soil sealing index (SI), bulk density (BD), penetration resistance (PR), saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and soil water content (SWC). Long-term cultivation improved soil shrinkage, sealing and hydro-physical properties. Soil organic matter (SOM) and silt + clay contents increased in VC and compared with FT and NC systems in all layers(p < 0.05). The BD and PR decreased in all systems, and in VC and FC systems it was prominent compared with NC system. KS and SWC increased (p |
