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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Water Quality and Ecology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #390484
Research Project: Strategic Investigations to Improve Water Quality and Ecosystem Sustainability in Agricultural Landscapes

Location: Water Quality and Ecology Research

Title: Runoff, erosion, and nutrient transport arising from furrow irrigation in a corn conservation production system

Author
item SPENCER, DAVE - Mississippi State University
item KRUTZ, JASON - Mississippi State University
item LOCKE, MARTIN - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item GHOLSON, DREW - Delta Research & Extension Center
item BRYANT, COREY - Delta Research & Extension Center
item HENRY, BRIEN - Mississippi State University
item GOLDEN, BOBBY - Jr Simplot Company

Submitted to: Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/15/2022
Publication Date: 4/21/2022
Citation: Spencer, D., Krutz, J.L., Locke, M.A., Gholson, D.M., Bryant, C.J., Henry, B.W., Golden, B.R. 2022. Runoff, erosion, and nutrient transport arising from furrow irrigation in a corn conservation production system. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment. 5(2). Article e20259. https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20259.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20259

Interpretive Summary: Current row-crop practices in the mid-southern, USA contribute to declining water tables and impairment of downstream waters, threatening the sustainability of irrigated agriculture and ecosystem services. This research at Stoneville, Mississippi, was conducted to determine the influence of cover crop or traffic pattern on surface hydrology in furrow irrigated corn (Zea mays L.). The effects of four cover crops and and traffic pattern (traffic, nontraffic) on runoff, erosion, and nutrient transport from a furrow irrigation event were evaluated. Including a cover crop reduced erosion by at least 16% but had no effect on runoff or the transport of total P, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, soluble reactive phosphate, ammonium nitrogen, or nitrate nitrogen. Eliminating traffic in furrows reduced runoff, erosion, and soluble reactive phosphate transport up to 13%, but traffic pattern had no effect on the transport of other nutrients. This research demonstrates that cover crop and equipment traffic pattern can be manipulated in reduced tillage systems to improve the sustainability of irrigated agriculture and ecosystem services in the mid-southern USA.

Technical Abstract: Contemporary row-crop practices in the mid-southern, USA contribute to declining water tables and impairment of downstream waters, threatening the sustainability of irrigated agriculture and vital ecosystem services. This research was conducted to determine whether agro-hydrology can be altered by cover crop or traffic pattern. The effects of cover crop (Austrian winter pea [Pisum sativum var. arvense (L.) Poiret], crimson clover [Trifolium incarnatum L.], cereal rye [Secale cereal L.], and tillage radish [Raphanus sativus L.]) and traffic pattern (traffic, nontraffic) on runoff, erosion, and nutrient transport from a furrow irrigation event were investigated at Stoneville, MS on a Commerce very fine sandy loam (a fine-silty, mixed, superactive, nonacid, thermic Fluvaquentic Endoaquept). Relative to winter fallow, the inclusion of a cover crop reduced erosion by at least 16% but had no effect on runoff or the transport of total P, total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), soluble reactive phosphate (SRP), NH4-N, or NO3-N. Eliminating traffic in furrows reduced runoff, erosion, and SRP transport up to 13%. Traffic pattern had no effect on the transport of total P, TKN, NH4-N, or NO3-N. Regardless of treatment, total N loss never exceeded 0.2% of N applied as inorganic fertilizer. This research demonstrates that cover crop and equipment traffic pattern can be manipulated in reduced tillage systems to improve the sustainability of irrigated agriculture and ecosystem services in the mid-southern USA.