Humectant compositions that effectively increase moisture retention in soil and associated methods for identifying same

A method for increasing the moisture retention rate of a soil, the method comprising:

• identifying an effective humectant composition for the soil by:
• (a) determining an average moisture content of the soil at a minimum humectant concentration level,
• (b) applying the humectant composition to the soil at a first humectant concentration level greater than the minimum humectant concentration level,
• (c) determining an average moisture content of the soil having the applied humectant composition at the first humectant concentration level,
• (d) applying the humectant composition to the soil at a maximum humectant concentration level greater than the first humectant concentration level,
• (e) determining an average moisture content of the soil having the applied humectant composition at the maximum humectant concentration level,
• (f) generating an average slope curve by plotting the average moisture content of the soil at applied humectant concentration levels from the minimum humectant concentration level to the maximum humectant concentration level, and
• (g) determining that the humectant composition is an effective humectant composition for increasing moisture retention in the soil when the generated average slope curve of step (f) provides a increasing average moisture content along the entirety of a length of the average slope curve from the minimum humectant concentration level to the maximum humectant concentration level and when the generated average slope curve has a p value of 0.05 or less;
• and
• applying an effective amount of the effective humectant composition to the soil.