INFLUENCE OF CORN RESIDUE ON COMPRESSION AND COMPACTION BEHAVIOR OF SOILS.

Crop residues have low densities and are somewhat elastic in nature. The presence of these residues in the soil or at the soil surface might reduce the severity of soil compaction. The objective of this study was to investigate the compression and compaction behavior of soils in the presence of corn residue. Compression behavior of soil-residue mixtures was studied in the laboratory using the uniaxial compression test. Treatments included three size fractions of corn residue, four amounts of residue addition, three soil water contents, and three soils (Webster clay loam, Sargent silt loam, and Zimmerman sand). Compression samples consisted of 60 g of wet soil mixed with 0. 0, 0. 5, 1. 0, and 2. 0 g of corn residue. In summary, both laboratory and field tests in this study showed minimal beneficial effects of using corn residues in reducing the compression and compaction of soils.