Plant Archives Volume 20 No. 2, 2020 pp. 9505-9515 e-ISSN:2581-6063 (online), ISSN:0972-5210 EFFECT OF POLYACRYLAMIDE AND BIOCHAR ON CALCAREOUS SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT AND MAIZE PRODUCTION UNDER DRIP IRRIGATION Maqsood Khalid Abdulrahman 1 *, Faris Akram Al-Wazzan 2 and Lazim Majeed Al-Jawadi 3 1* Ministry of Ariculture and Water Resource, Erbil, Iraq. 2 College of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq. 3 Nineveh Nursery, Ministry of Agriculture, Mosul, Iraq. Abstract The field experiment was established in Nineveh nursey located in Mosul governorate, with silty loam texture, during summer season 2019. The study carried out the effect of polyacrylamide (PAMs) and biochar (BC-wheat straw pyrolysis at 400-500c) and the interaction between them on soil hydro-physical properties and productivity of maize crop under drip irrigation. The experiment laid-out in three application level of polyacrylamide (0, 160 and 320 kg ha -1 ) and biochar (0, 4 and 8 t ha -1 ) with three replications in a completely randomized block design (RCBD). The result showed polyacrylamide and biochar significantly affect the soil’s physical properties (volumetric water content, bulk density, porosity, saturated hydraulic conductivity) and significantly affect plant parameters. The interaction between PAMs and BC showed more efficacy effect compared with control (CK) at (p<0.005). The lowest mean value for Bulk Density was in treatment P 2 B 2 1.077 Mg m -3 compared with CK 1.407 Mg m -3 , total air porosity’s highest mean value was in treatment P 2 B 2 59.37% compared with CK 46.92% designate 12.45% increasing carryout significantly effect at level (p<0.005), The saturated hydraulic conductivity effected by PAMs and BC the highest mean value was in treatment P 2 B 2 3.71 cm.hr -1 compared with CK 1.36cm.hr -1 . Also the Grain yield affected significantly the highest mean value was in treatment P 2 B 2 10.75 ton ha -1 compared with CK 9 ton ha -1 . During the whole summer maize growing season the highest mean value of volumetric water content VWC was in treatment P 2 B 2 45.301% compared with CK 35.058%. Key words: Soil amendment, Polyacrylamide (PAMs), Biochar (BC), volumetric water content (VWC). Introduction Soil is a natural resource that plays a critical role in an environmental ecosystem; it’s a dynamic living material and unrenewable. It also a basis of providing water and nutrients for plant growth, hence it’s a source to incur a spread of food for the human life process (Smith, et al., 2016). Soil management strategies change soil quality characteristics and play important roles in sustainable agriculture, In arid and semi-arid areas, the soil is naturally organized by low organic matter content cuase to the low of natural vegetation which causes low water holding capacity, essentially low fertility and perceptivity to erosion (Abdelfattah, Akhmet H., et al., 2020). The dual important concern subjects the suitability of soils for productivity is soil moisture and nutrient holding capacity (Campos, Paloma, et al., 2020). Additionally, the random land use and poorer management soil in arid and semi-arid areas over the past few decades have bare carrying on degradation and desertification, thus the condition is becoming even of lower quality with natural factors of global climate change. Also, low rainfall conditions and sequential distribution of rainfall are usually very unsuitable for plant growth. Previous research reported that the application of soil amendments is attitude strategies to improve the utilization of infrequent water resources for crop production and maintain proper soil properties within the arid and semi-arid regions (Bartkowski, Bartosz, et al., 2020). Some natural water preservation soil amendments like biochar substance can increase macro aggregation, organic carbon and macronutrients and sustenance the microorganism activity, hence improve the soil properties and nutrient uptake by plants (Xu, Shengtao, et al., 2018; Obia, Alfred, et al., 2020). Polyacrylamide (PAMs), a macromolecular cross- *Author for correspondence : E-mail : maqsood.khalid@uomosul.edu.iq