ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Polyacrylamide (PAM) is the mostly used as soil amendment in the world. A variety of soil amendments such as have been applied for soil and water conservation. Determination of optimum level of soil amendments is important, especially in sustainable watershed management to achieve optimal health, safety and sustainability in watershed resources. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the optimal PAM application rate under laboratory conditions. The experiments were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions with a simulated rainfall at the Soil Erosion and Rainfall Simulation Laboratory, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran. PAM treatments of 0, 0.4, 0.6, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 g m−2 were used as experimental rates. The analyses of the results verified the optimal amounts of PAM application based on PAM residues in runoff and sediment as well as minimum soil loss at rate of 2 and 0.4 g m−2, respectively.
