2023-06-252024-01-292023-06-25https://hdl.handle.net/11420/15754Fertilizers play a critical role in supporting the agricultural activities worldwide. The conventional fertilizer application methods often utilize the fertilizer granules or liquids over the agricultural land. The fertilizer is transported into the soil with percolating irrigation water. However, the presence of preferential flow pathways in the soil affects the transport of the fertilizer into deeper layers of soil below the root zone and leaching into the groundwater resources. Hence, the application does not serve the intended purpose of supplying nutrients to the plants resulting in less healthy soils and higher possibility of surface and groundwater pollution. Different agronomic practices have been proposed to improve the efficiency of fertilizer application and reduce leaching to the environment. In this project, the application of a novel method for improving the efficiency of liquid fertilizer delivery using foam as a carrier was investigated. We experimentally addressed the impact of soil and foam characteristics on the retention of nutrients in soil. The experiments were conducted on fine, medium, and coarse-textured sand samples with particle size ranging from 0.1-0.4 mm, 0.4-0.8 mm, and 0.7-1.2 mm, respectively. Our preliminary results were promising showing the improvement of fertilizer retention in sand samples, particularly in medium-textured sand. The project provides insights into the application of foam fertilizers in agricultural practices; however, certain aspects such as the impact of different type of fertilizers, the interaction of plant roots with foam fertilizers, and the uptake of nutrients by plants need additional investigations.