Experiment Study of Porous Fiber Material on Infiltration and Runoff of Winter Wheat Farmland in Huaibei Plain, China

Abstract

Drought and floods frequently occurred in the Huaibei plain, which was the main factor that restricted agricultural development. We conducted rainfall experiments, which aimed to explore the impacts of porous fiber material (PFM) on the farmland water cycle processes and soil water storage capacity. In this study, we designed two types of rainfall intensities, 4 PFM volumes, 4 growth periods of winter wheat, and a total of 8 experimental groups and 32 rainfall events to evaluate the effects. The result showed that PFM had significantly affected the soil water circulation in the grain-filling period, and the peak flow and runoff decreased maximumly compared with other periods. However, the effect of PFM on surface runoff was slighter in the fallow period, and the peak flow or runoff decreased with the PFM volumes increased (R2 = −0.92, −0.99). In the 100 and 50 mm/h rainfall intensities, PFM decreased the average values of runoff by (55.2–59.6%) and (57.2–90.2%), reduced peak flow by (62.2–68%) and (64.2–86%), and increased the stable infiltration rate by (13.4–14.3%) and (26.6–41.3%), respectively. After the rainfall experiments ended for 1 h, the surface soil water rapidly infiltrated into PFM, which made the water-storage capacity of PFM groups higher than the control groups by 0.2–11% Vol. Subsequently, PFM increased the water-holding capacity by 0.3–2.3% Vol in the 10–70 cm depth from the heading period to the fallow period. It had a positive relationship between the PFM volumes and the average values of soil water content (R2 = 0.8, 0.84). In general, PFM could increase infiltration, reduce runoff, and improve the water-storage capacity to alleviate soil water deficit and the risk of farmland drought and floods. It has an excellent application effect in long-duration rainfall.