Performance of selected infiltration models in organic amended soils

The performance of selected water infiltration models in organic amended soils were evaluated. Ten (10) infiltration models consisting of five (5) empirical (Philip (PH), Kostiakov (KT), Modified Kostiakov (MK), Kostiakov-Lewis (KL) and Natural resources conservation service(NRCS), three (3) physically based (Green-Ampt (GA), Smith-Parlange (SP), Talsma-Parlange (TP) and two (2) semi - empirical ( Swartzendruber (SW) and Horton (HT)), were evaluated for soils amended with cow dung and poultry litter. The aim was to study the ability of the models in accurately predicting measured cumulative infiltration. The study was carried out at the Agricultural Engineering experimental plot at Zaria. A field size of 200 m2 was cleared and divided into three strips, 50 kg each of Cow dung and poultry litter was applied into the furrow of the first and third strip and the middle strip served as control. The field was ploughed to a depth of 20 cm in order to mix the manure with the soil. Statistical t-test showed a significant difference between the amended strip and the control.