Soil temperature is an important factor influencing crop growth. Within limits, a higher soil temperature will promote crop growth, especially in cool climate regions. Compost application can increase soil temperature, however the mechanism of increasing soil temperature remains unclear. We conducted a pot experiment to examine the effects of compost application on soil temperature and evaporation in a bare Andisol. Pots with compost (16㎏ m?²) had a higher soil temperature and less evaporation than pots without compost. The decrease in evaporation and the increase in soil temperature by compost application were significantly correlated. We conclude that compost application increases soil temperature by decreasing evaporation from the soil surface.

Innovative SMC with low iron loss was made from iron powders with evaporated MgO insulation coating. The coating had greater heat-resistance than conventional phosphatic insulation coating, which enabled stress relieving annealing at higher temperature. Magnetic properties of toroidal samples (OD35mm,ID25mm, t5) were examined. The iron loss at 50Hz for Bm = 1.5T was lower 50% of conventional SMC and was almost the same with silicon iron laminations(t0.35). It became clear that MgO insulation coating has enough heat resistance and adhesiveness to powdersurface to obtain innovative SMC with low iron loss.