THE STUDY OF SOIL WATER INFILTRATION UNDER HORTICULTURAL AT THE UPSTREAM OF SUMANI WATERSHED

Abstract

Generally, the farming activities in the Sumani upstream watershed community are; cultivating horticulture or vegetables such as cabbage, onions, potatoes, carrots, and flowers.  The land cultivation for these purposes is made possible due to the high fertility rate of the land in this region which is suitable for horticultural crops.  The soil in this area (including the order Andisol) develops from the weathering of the residue from the eruption of Mount Talang.  Most farmers do not implement soil and water conservation which invariably leads to erosion and in the long run, the land will finally be degraded.. The purpose of this research is to assess the capacity of water infiltration on some types of horticultural crops in the Sumani Upper watershed.  The survey method is used to determine the sampling points and the measurement of the rate of infiltration is read using a ring infiltrometer. The soil samples were analyzed in the laboratory of the Department of Soil Science under the Faculty of Agriculture, Andalas University. While the infiltration rate of the data was processed using Horton’s equation.  To determine the main factor affecting the infiltration rate, the principal component analysis (PCA) was performed. The results showed that infiltration rate in three groups of farmers ranged from moderate to fast. The main factors affecting it are; bulk density, texture and depth of the root zone. The infiltration capacity, soil texture factor influence is more dominant and equals about to 61.7 percent.