Evaluation of effects of xanthan and molasses mulches of sugar beet on dust control in forest roads of Arghavan protected area of Ilam city

This study aimed to evaluate the performance and effect of time and concentration of xanthan gum and sugar beet molasses spraying in controlling forest road dust and the amount of dust settling on the leaves of roadside trees. Treatments of sugar beet molasses and xanthan gum with concentrations of 2%, 5%, and 10% were sprayed on 60-meter sections of the forest road by a device designed with a spray pump in the Arghavan-Shar forest roads of Ilam city. The study measured the amount of dust when passing the vehicle at a speed of 40 km/h using the HAZ-DUST EPAM-5000 device 3, 9, and 27 days after the implementation of the treatments. The results showed that all treatments were able to significantly reduce the amount of forest road dust. The amount of dust emission in the parts treated with sugar beet molasses (1.19 mg/m3) was significantly lower than the parts treated with xanthan gum (1.62 mg/m3). There was no significant difference between the concentrations of treatments in reducing the amount of dust on forest roads. The study also examined the durability of the treatments and observed that the highest effect of treatments with a significance level of 5% occurred in the first week, and the lowest amount of dust (0.63 mg/m3) was recorded during this period. The study suggests that the use of 2% concentration of sugar beet molasses can be used to control forest road dust due to its operational and economic efficiency.