Effects of powdered cactus pear pruning amendment on the physical and hydraulic properties of two contrasting Mediterranean soils

Full database.

A production and consumption paradigm known as "circular economy" (CE) emphasizes sharing, renting, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and, in particular, recycling materials as much as feasible. Traditional agriculture relied totally on the CE, progressively the search for maximization of yields has produced more and more by-products. Their recovery and reuse are possible with approaches that refer to the CE, for example, with the use of pruning biomasses. The cultivation of the cactus pear annually produces large quantities of pruning residues, which have been shown to be useful for the recovery and reuse of nutrients. This study investigates the hydraulic properties of benchmark soils in which this by-product is incorporated. Here we show that the amendment with powdered cactus pear pruning waste (PCPPW) positively affects soil water retention. However, observable benefits require very high amendment proportions, more than 20% by volume. These quantities make use in the open field unrealistic but offer perspectives in the horticultural and floricultural sectors.  These results reveal agreement in direct comparison to what was thought to be the case previously, i.e., a decrease in soil bulk density, an increase in plant available water capacity and an increase in soil swelling. A few per cent application of PCPPW improves the drainable water capacity only in the case of not very clayey soils, where their use becomes useless. The principles of the CE are important, but they must not be pursued a priori. For example, in the use of soil amendments, the behavior in the different soils conditions the suitability of their use.