Abstract

Potted soil housed in greenhouse conditions was used as a medium to investigate the effects of the Tiantong water-retaining agent on soil moisture content, soil moisture evapotranspiration and plant agronomic traits as well as the overall dry matter accumulation of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) growths. Results demonstrated that application of a water-retaining agent equivalent to 0.35% of total soil mass increased the moisture of coarse-sand soil up to 10%, reduced the soil moisture evapotranspiration up to 30%, and significantly increased plant height, tiller number, total leaf number, and dry matter accumulation (40% increase) in switchgrass specimens. These findings suggest that transplanted switchgrass in abandoned sand excavation sites containing primarily coarse-sand soil, typical of marginal lands available for agricultural use in the northern regions of China, may exhibit improved growth rates upon the addition of a water-retaining agent, such as Tiantong, to the soil. This finding has widespread implications for the bioenergy industry, suggesting that many marginal lands may be efficiently converted into renewable bioenergy resources.