scholarly journals Onion Irrigation and Nitrogen Leaching in the Arkansas Valley of Colorado 1990-1991

1993 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.E. Ells ◽  
A.E. McSay ◽  
P.N. Soltanpour ◽  
F.C. Schweissing ◽  
M.E. Bartolo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Nitrate Leaching ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Soil Profile ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Nitrate Nitrogen ◽  
N Fertilizer ◽  
Irrigation Requirement ◽  
Previous Season ◽  
N Management

Water and nitrogen (N) are major inputs in the production of onions in the Arkansas Valley of Colorado. Because nitrates move with irrigation water, the effect of different rates of application of both N fertilizer and water on nitrate leaching were studied simultaneously. After a 2-year field study (1990-1991), it was concluded that >50 t·ha-1 of onions could be obtained without any N fertilizer when >42 ppm of nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) were initially present in the top 33 cm of soil and up to 112 cm of irrigation water was applied. Total onion yield was not improved by applying more than the calculated irrigation requirement. The 2-m profile of soil under these experiments was found to contain >1400 kg·ha-1 of residual NO3-N prior to fertilizer treatments. When twice the estimated irrigation requirement was applied, >1000 kg·ha-1 of NO3-N was unaccounted for and presumed to have been mostly leached below the 2-m profile and partly denitrified. In both years, the onions were planted on land that had been fallowed the previous season, which does not help explain the presence of the high levels of nitrates found in the soil profile. It was concluded that sound water and N management practices in onion fields are crucial for preservation of water quality.

scholarly journals Limitations of Improved Nitrogen Management to Reduce Nitrate Leaching and Increase Use Efficiency

2001 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 10-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Nitrate Leaching ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Nitrate Nitrogen ◽  
Nitrogen Management ◽  
N Leaching ◽  
N Loss ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Rate Method ◽  
N Management

The primary mode of nitrogen (N) loss from tile-drained row-cropped land is generally nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) leaching. Although cropping, tillage, and N management practices can be altered to reduce the amount of leaching, there are limits as to how much can be done. Data are given to illustrate the potential reductions for individual practices such as rate, method, and timing of N applications. However, most effects are multiplicative and not additive; thus it is probably not realistic to hope to get overall reductions greater than 25 to 30% with in-field practices alone. If this level of reduction is insufficient to meet water quality goals, additional off-site landscape modifications may be necessary.

scholarly journals Potential for nitrate leaching from different land uses in the Pukekohe area

1997 ◽  
pp. 55-58
Author(s):  
J.R. Crush ◽  
S.N. Cathcart ◽  
P. Singleton ◽  
R.D. Longhurst
Keyword(s):  
Nitrate Leaching ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Nitrate Nitrogen ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
Main Crop ◽  
History Of ◽  
Winter Crops ◽  
N Management

Nitrogen balances (inputs minus outputs) were calculated for 5 dairy farms, 5 orchards and a range of crops. All the balances were positive, i.e., surplus N was present and a proportion of this N will eventually reach the groundwater as nitrate. On a per ha basis, the greatest N surplus was from early potatoes > winter cabbage, winter lettuce and squash > dairying, kiwifruit, summer cabbage and summer lettuce > pumpkins, onions and main crop potatoes > dry stock farming. The area in each activity was multiplied by the surplus N factor to obtain the potential contribution of N to groundwater in the Pukekohe area. Early potatoes (217 t N), contribute much more than onions (105 t N), dairying (59 t N) or dry stock farming (57 t N). Other activities contributed < 30 t N each. Winter crops had higher surplus N levels than the same crop grown in summer because winter crops had higher fertiliser N inputs and lower crop off-take of N. Management practices contributing to the N surpluses include high rates of N fertiliser used on some crops; a long history of cultivation, which has reduced soil organic matter contents and the ability of these soils to immobilise mineral N; and nil to intermittent use of cover crops to retain N in the topsoil. Keywords: aquifers, dairying, fertiliser, groundwater, land use, management, nitrate, nitrogen balance, nitrate leaching, vegetables.

scholarly journals Nitrate-Nitrogen Leaching and Modeling in Intensive Agriculture Farmland in China

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ligang Xu ◽  
Hailin Niu ◽  
Jin Xu ◽  
Xiaolong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Nitrate Leaching ◽  
Soil Profile ◽  
Nitrate Nitrogen ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Simulated Data ◽  
Intensive Agriculture ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
N Leaching ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Leachm Model

Protecting water resources from nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) contamination is an important public health concern and a major national environmental issue in China. Loss of NO3-N in soils due to leaching is not only one of the most important problems in agriculture farming, but is also the main factor causing nitrogen pollution in aquatic environments. Three typical intensive agriculture farmlands in Jiangyin City in China are selected as a case study for NO3-N leaching and modeling in the soil profile. In this study, the transport and fate of NO3-N within the soil profile and nitrate leaching to drains were analyzed by comparing field data with the simulation results of the LEACHM model. Comparisons between measured and simulated data indicated that the NO3-N concentrations in the soil and nitrate leaching to drains are controlled by the fertilizer practice, the initial conditions and the rainfall depth and distribution. Moreover, the study reveals that the LEACHM model gives a fair description of the NO3-N dynamics in the soil and subsurface drainage at the field scale. It can also be concluded that the model after calibration is a useful tool to optimize as a function of the combination “climate-crop-soil-bottom boundary condition” the nitrogen application strategy resulting for the environment in an acceptable level of nitrate leaching. The findings in this paper help to demonstrate the distribution and migration of nitrogen in intensive agriculture farmlands, as well as to explore the mechanism of groundwater contamination resulting from agricultural activities.

scholarly journals Orchard Floor and Nitrogen Management Influences Soil and Water Quality and Tart Cherry Yields

2003 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose E. Sanchez ◽  
Charles E. Edson ◽  
George W. Bird ◽  
Mark E. Whalon ◽  
Thomas C. Willson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
N Fertilizer ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Tart Cherry ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Full Rate ◽  
C And N ◽  
C And N Pools ◽  
N Management

Designing and implementing more productive, nutrient-efficient, and environmentally sound orchard management systems requires a better understanding of plant and soil responses to more biologically driven management practices. This study explored the effect of orchard floor and N management on soil organic C and N, populations of nematodes, NO3 leaching, and yields in tart cherry (Prunus cerasus L. `Montmorency') production. A baseline conventional orchard system consisting of an herbicide-treated tree row and a full rate of N fertilizer was compared to two modified-conventional and ten alternative orchard floor and N management systems. Living ground cover and the use of mulch with or without composted manure increased total C and the active C and N pools in the soil. For instance, supplemental mulch or mulch applied using a side-delivery mower increased soil C by >20% above the conventional baseline. The size of the active C pool increased 45% and 60% with the use of the species mix 2 ground cover and compost, respectively. Increases in the active N pool ranged from a low of 25% in the soils using mulch or a ground cover mix to a high of 60% when compost was used. As a result, the ability of these soils to provide N to growing plants was enhanced. Total soil N increased in the treatment using natural weeds as ground cover and the full rate of N fertilizer. It is likely that weeds were able to convert significant amounts of fertilizer N into organic forms. Increasing the active C and N pools stimulates microbial activity, and may favor populations of nonplant parasitic nematodes over plant parasitic species. Using a trunk-to-trunk cover crop mix under the cherry trees reduced NO3 leaching by >90% compared to a conventional, herbicide treated soil, even when N fertilizer was used at full rate. Nitrate leaching also dramatically diminished when N fertilizer was fertigated at a reduced rate or when compost was used as N source. Alternative orchard floor and N management did not reduce yields when compared to the baseline conventional treatment.

scholarly journals Best Management Practices for Minimizing Nitrate Leaching from Container-Grown Nurseries

2001 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 96-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianjun Chen ◽  
Yingfeng Huang ◽  
Russell D. Caldwell
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Nitrate Leaching ◽  
Best Management Practices ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Ornamental Plants ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Agricultural Practice ◽  
Application Rates ◽  
N Management

Containerized plant production represents an extremely intensive agricultural practice; 40,000 to 300,000 containers may occupy one acre of surface area to which a large amount of chemical fertilizer is applied. Currently, recommended fertilizer application rates for the production of containerized nursery ornamental plants are in excess of plant requirements, and up to 50% of the applied fertilizers may run off or be leached from containers. Among the nutrients leached or allowed to runoff, nitrogen (N) is the most abundant and is of major concern as the source of ground and surface water pollution. In this report, current N fertilizer application rates for different container-grown nursery ornamental plants, the amount of nitrate leaching or runoff from containers, and the potential for nitrate contamination of ground and surface water are discussed. In contrast, our best N management practices include: (1) applying fertilizers based on plant species need; (2) improving potting medium�s nutrient holding capacity using obscure mineral additives; (3) using controlled-release fertilizers; and (4) implementing zero runoff irrigation or fertigation delivery systems that significantly reduce nitrate leaching or runoff in containerized plant production and encourage dramatic changes in N management.

Iowa Statewide Stream Nitrate Loading: 2017-2018 Update

2019 ◽  
Vol 126 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 6-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Jones ◽  
Keith E. Schilling
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Mississippi River ◽  
Best Management Practices ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Nitrate Nitrogen ◽  
Nitrogen Loading ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Nutrient Reduction ◽  
Stream Network ◽  
Discharge Data

In response to ongoing hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico, several states in the Mississippi River basin have adopted nutrient reduction plans in recent years designed to arrest the flow of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from both point and non-point sources to the stream network. Iowa's Nutrient Reduction Strategy, implemented in 2012, aims to reduce stream loading of these nutrients by 45% within a yet-to-be-defined time frame. Because the state has chosen to integrate accountability into the strategy through the numerical objective, ongoing water monitoring is necessary to credibly measure progress. The primary objective of this research was to use water quality monitoring and discharge data to update statewide nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) loading using the combined data sets generated by in situ water quality sensors and traditional grab sample monitoring conducted by state government. Our research shows that the 5-year running annual average of nitrate-nitrogen loading continues to increase, and after the 2018 water year is 73% higher than that calculated in 2003. Loads from Iowa areas draining to the Missouri River are increasing more rapidly than loads from areas draining to the upper Mississippi River: 132% versus 55% since 2003. This shows that best management practices designed to stem the loss of nutrients from the corn-soybean system must be widely adopted and robustly designed for extreme environmental conditions if Iowa is to meet its water quality objectives.

Effects of irrigation water salinity and sodicity on infiltration and lucerne growth over a shallow watertable

2002 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 281 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. G. Slavich ◽  
G. H. Petterson ◽  
D. Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Analysis ◽  
Infiltration Rate ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Irrigation Season ◽  
Saline Irrigation ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Channel Water

Irrigation using saline sodic groundwater is a major strategy to manage salinisation from shallow watertables in the irrigation areas of south-east Australia. There is concern that this strategy will increase soil sodicity and induce a decline in soil physical properties that affect infiltration. Laboratory experiments have shown that the saturated hydraulic conductivity of soils may decrease when a saline–sodic soil is leached with low salinity water. This paper evaluates the field significance of these concerns to irrigation water management practices. The effects of changing the irrigation water source from saline–sodic groundwater to low salinity channel water on the infiltration properties of a hardsetting red-brown earth and the yield of lucerne (Medicago sativa) were evaluated over a 3-year period. Four dilution strategies to use high-salinity (EC 6 dS/m) and high-sodicity [SAR 16 (mmol/L)0.5] groundwater were compared. They were: (i) irrigation with groundwater in the spring then channel water for remainder of the summer irrigation season; (ii) irrigation with channel water in spring then groundwater for the rest of season; (iii) irrigation with diluted groundwater EC 3 dS/m for whole season; and (iv) alternative irrigations with groundwater EC 6 dS/m and channel water throughout the season. The control treatment was irrigated with low-salinity (EC 0.15 dS/m) channel water all season. The treatments were applied for 2 summer irrigation seasons then channel water was applied to all plots for another season. The site was underlain by a shallow watertable at 1.0 m. The final steady infiltration rate of each plot was measured each irrigation using capacitance water level loggers. This value was used as an index of soil structural stability to the water quality treatments. The results show all groundwater treatments caused the soil to increase in salinity from ECe(0–0.15 m) 0.6–0.9 dS/m to 3.8–7.3 dS/m and sodicity from SARe(0–0.15 m) 1.7–2.1 to 14.2–16.8 after 2 years of application. The steady infiltration rate was not affected by treatment during this period. In the third year when all plots were irrigated with channel water there was a small decrease in the steady infiltration rate during irrigation in the alternating groundwater treatment. The steady infiltration rates of the experimental soil were relatively low, varying from 4.9 to 7.0 mm/h for different water quality treatments. The most likely explanation of the small treatment effect is that infiltration in this soil is dominated by water entry via surface cracks. Soil analysis indicated that sufficient electrolyte was maintained in the matrix of the surface soil to prevent significant swelling and clay dispersion, even after many irrigations of channel water were applied. Water balance estimates and changes in profile salinity indicated that the lucerne used significant quantities of water directly from the watertable, concentrating salt within the capillary fringe above the watertable to a maximum of 36 dS/m. A larger proportion of the water requirement appeared to be taken up directly from the watertable where saline irrigation water was also applied. This led to rapid profile salinisation and sodification from a combination of upward flux from the watertable and salt applied in the irrigation water.

Development of a Coupled Water Quality Model

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 1153-1170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Wang ◽  
Dennis C. Flanagan ◽  
Keith A. Cherkauer
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Total Phosphorus ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Nitrate Nitrogen ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
Nutrient Losses ◽  
Soluble Phosphorus

Abstract. . Nonpoint-source (NPS) pollutants, especially from agriculture, continue to be a primary source of waterquality degradation problems. Effective land management decisions at the field scale must be made to minimize nutrient losses that could pollute streams. Existing NPS models often cannot directly estimate the impacts of different land management practices or determine the effectiveness of combined best management practices (BMPs) in a distributed way at the farm scale. In many cases, they rely on application of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) or its improved versions, which represent fields in a lumped fashion and use empirical rather than process-based modeling methodologies. In this study, a coupled Water Erosion Prediction Project and Water Quality (WEPP-WQ) model was completed, updated, improved, and evaluated for simulation of hydrology, soil erosion, and water quality. The WEPP model is a well-established process-based model that simulates runoff and erosion processes from a hillslope. The water quality components are based on those of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). A single overland flow element (OFE) on a hillslope is used to represent a single soil and land use management. The WEPP-WQ model was tested by comparing simulated values from the coupled model with observed nutrient and sediment concentrations in surface runoff following storm events at experimental sites near Waterloo in northeastern Indiana and at the Throckmorton Purdue Agricultural Center in west central Indiana. Time series evaluation of the WEPP-WQ model was performed with observed nutrient and sediment losses from an experimental plot near Tifton, Georgia. The model performed quite well in simulating nutrient losses for single storm events, with R2 greater than 0.8, Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) greater than 0.65, and percent bias (PBIAS) less than 31% for runoff, sediment, nitrate nitrogen, total nitrogen, soluble phosphorus, and total phosphorus losses. In predicting time series nutrient loss, the WEPP-WQ model simulated daily nitrate nitrogen losses adequately, with the ratio of the root mean square error to the standard deviation of measured data (RSR) less than 0.7, NSE greater than 0.55, and PBIAS within the range of ±40%. Comparisons between simulated soluble phosphorus, total phosphorus, and literature results were performed due to the absence of an available observational dataset. The WEPP-WQ model with a single OFE in this study provides a basic but important step for the development of WEPP-WQ models with multiple OFEs that can evaluate the effectiveness of BMPs Keywords: Modeling, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Soil erosion, Water quality, WEPP.

scholarly journals Optimizing nitrogen fertilizer use for more grain and less pollution

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyu Ren ◽  
Minggang Xu ◽  
Rong Li ◽  
Lei Zheng ◽  
Shaogui Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Application Rate ◽  
N Fertilizer ◽  
N Application ◽  
Fertilizer Use ◽  
Application Rates ◽  
Operational Practices ◽  
N Management ◽  
N Fertilizer Use

Abstract Optimal nitrogen (N) management is critical for efficient crop production and agricultural pollution control. However, it is difficult to implement advanced management practices on smallholder farms due to a lack of knowledge and technology. Here, using 35,502 on-farm fertilization experiments, we demonstrated that smallholders in China could produce more grain with less N fertilizer use through optimizing N application rate. The yields of wheat, maize and rice were shown to increase between 10% and 19% while N application rates were reduced by 15–19%. These changes resulted in an increase in N use efficiency (NUE) by 32–46% and a reduction in N surplus by 40% without actually changing farmers’ operational practices. By reducing N application rates in line with official recommendations would not only save fertilizer cost while increasing crop yield, but at the same time reduce environmental N pollution in China. However, making progress towards further optimizing N fertilizer use to produce more grain with less pollution would require managements to improve farmers’ practices which was estimated to cost about 11.8 billion US dollars to implement.

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