Minimising off-site movement of contaminants in furrow irrigation using polyacrylamide (PAM). I. Pesticides

Soil Research ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle P. Oliver ◽  
Rai S. Kookana

Off-site movement of pesticides from furrow-irrigated agriculture has been a concern in the Ord River Irrigation Area, Western Australia. After consultation with growers a range of management strategies were tested to assess the effectiveness of various practices to minimise off-site movement of pesticides during irrigation. This paper reports on the effectiveness of the additions of high molecular weight, anionic, polyacrylamide (PAM) to irrigation water to minimise off-site movement of endosulfan, chlorothalonil, bupirimate, and atrazine. Water leaving from 4 separate irrigation bays, which consisted of 25 furrows per irrigation bay (Expt 1) or 39 furrows per irrigation bay (Expt 2), was monitored over time. The average concentration of endosulfan α and β and bupirimate leaving the irrigation bays for the duration of the single irrigation event was generally always less for the PAM-treated irrigation bays than the control (control treatment). The addition of PAM to the irrigation water significantly decreased the cumulative runoff losses (g) of total endosulfan by 54% from 11.41 to 5.19 g/ha (P < 0.05), and of chlorothalonil by 49% from 53.65 to 27.32 g/ha (P < 0.001). There was no statistical difference in the load of atrazine or bupirimate leaving either treatment. Although the addition of PAM to irrigation water effectively decreased the off-site movement of 2 fairly strongly sorbed pesticides, endosulfan and chlorothalonil, it did not decrease the total load moving off-site of the more weakly sorbed pesticides, bupirimate and atrazine. The addition of PAM as a liquid to irrigation water was not found to increase the infiltration of a soluble pesticide, atrazine, into the soil profile. The mode of application of PAM, however, may affect water infiltration and hence vertical movement of soluble pesticides and requires further investigation.

Soil Research ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle P. Oliver ◽  
Rai S. Kookana

Off-site movement of nutrients and sediment from furrow-irrigated agriculture has been a concern in the Ord River Irrigation Area, Western Australia. After consultation with growers, a range of management strategies were tested to assess the effectiveness of various practices to minimise off-site movement of nutrients during irrigation. This paper reports on the effectiveness of the additions of high molecular weight, anionic, polyacrylamide (PAM) to irrigation water to minimise off-site movement of phosphorus, nitrogen, carbon, and sediment. Surface runoff water quantity and quality from 4 separate irrigation bays, which contained 25 furrows per irrigation bay, was monitored over time for a single irrigation 35 days after sowing. Addition of PAM as a puck (cylindrical disc 55 mm diameter by 23 mm height) to the head of each irrigation furrow significantly (P < 0.001) decreased the average volume of surface runoff water leaving the irrigation bays by 54%, from 599 kL for the control irrigation bays to 277 kL for the PAM-treated irrigation bays. The addition of PAM also significantly (P < 0.001) decreased the average total suspended sediment load for the duration of the irrigation from 94.9 kg/ha for the control bays to 13.4 kg/ha for the PAM-treated irrigation bays. The concentrations of the different forms of N, P, and C measured in the runoff water were not significantly different between the 2 treatments. The amounts (g) of particulate (>0.45 µm) P and dissolved organic C were significantly (P < 0.01) less from the PAM-treated bays than from the control bays. There was a consistent trend for the addition of PAM to decrease the cumulative mass loss of all nutrients (N, P, and C) measured. However, significant decreases were only seen for particulate (>0.45 µm) P (by 94%), unfiltered (or total) N (by 56%), and unfiltered (or total) C (by 60%). This experiment demonstrated that the addition of PAM to irrigation waters has the potential to decrease the off-site movement of nutrients bound to colloidal material. However, in this study off-site movement of contaminants present in the ‘soluble’ (<0.45 µm) fraction is unlikely to be mitigated by the addition of PAM to irrigation water. The mode of application of PAM, however, may affect water infiltration and hence vertical movement of ‘soluble’ contaminants and requires further investigation to ensure that while off-site surface transport is being minimised, contamination of groundwater is not being increased. Other strategies to minimise off-site movement for contaminants in the dissolved phase also need investigation.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Laura Ávila-Dávila ◽  
Manuel Soler-Méndez ◽  
Carlos Francisco Bautista-Capetillo ◽  
Julián González-Trinidad ◽  
Hugo Enrique Júnez-Ferreira ◽  
...  

Infiltration estimation is made by tests such as concentric cylinders, which are prone to errors, such as the lateral movement under the ring. Several possibilities have been developed over the last decades to compensate these errors, which are based on physical, electronic, and mathematical principles. In this research, two approaches are proposed to measure the water infiltration rate in a silty loam soil by means of the mass values of a lysimeter weighing under rainfall conditions and different moisture contents. Based on the fact that with the lysimeter it is possible to determine acting soil flows very precisely, then with the help of mass conservation and assuming a downward vertical movement, 12 rain events were analyzed. In addition, it was possible to monitor the behavior of soil moisture and to establish the content at field capacity from the values of the weighing lysimeter, from which both approach are based. The infiltration rate of these events showed a variable rate at the beginning of the rainfall until reaching a maximum, to descend to a stable or basic rate. This basic infiltration rate was 1.49 ± 0.36 mm/h, and this is because soils with fine textures have reported low infiltration capacity. Four empirical or semi-empirical models of infiltration were calibrated with the values obtained with our approaches, showing a better fit with the Horton’s model.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Corona Baitelle ◽  
Abraão Carlos Verdin Filho ◽  
Sílvio de Jesus Freitas ◽  
Guilherme Bessa Miranda ◽  
Henrique Duarte Vieira ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The cycle pruning programmed is a reinvigoration technique widely employed in Conilon coffee. This strategy may also be adopted for Arabica coffee to increase its crop longevity and yield. In this scenario, the present study proposes to examine the influence of the cycle pruning programmed on the vegetative and productive development of Arabica coffee. The experiment was developed in the field as a randomized-block design with four replicates. Treatments were tested in a 4 × 2 factorial arrangement consisting of four stem densities (4000, 8000, 12000 or 16000 stems ha-1) and two management strategies for the removal of plagiotropic branches (annual or biennial removal of branches which had reached 70% or more of their production capacity). For some variables, the treatments were organized as a 4 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement in which the last factor corresponded to two regions of data collection in the plant (upper or lower). For all factorial arrangements, an additional treatment (control) was employed corresponding to traditional pruning (recepa). Annual or biennial removal of plagiotropic branches which had attained 70% or more of their production capacity can be adopted with no losses to crop yield. The cycle pruning programmed improves the distribution of branches, increases canopy area and prevents the occurrence of the “naked neck” phenomenon, observed in control treatment. Additionally, it provides better agronomic and productive performance; therefore, it can be used as a substitute for recepa.


Plant Disease ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Julia Carbone ◽  
Victoria Moreira ◽  
Pedro Mondino ◽  
Sandra Alaniz

Peach (Prunus persica L.) is an economically important deciduous fruit crop in Uruguay. Anthracnose caused by species of the genus Colletotrichum is one of the major diseases in peach production, originating significant yield losses in United States (Hu et al. 2015), China (Du et al. 2017), Korea (Lee et al. 2018) and Brazil (Moreira et al. 2020). In February 2017, mature peach fruits cv. Pavia Canario with symptoms resembling anthracnose disease were collected from a commercial orchard located in Rincon del Colorado, Canelones, in the Southern region of Uruguay. Symptoms on peach fruit surface were characterized as circular, sunken, brown to dark-brown lesions ranging from 1 to 5 cm in diameter. Lesions were firm to touch with wrinkled concentric rings. All lesions progressed to the fruit core in a V-shaped pattern. The centers of the lesions were covered by orange conidial masses. Monosporic isolates obtained from the advancing margin of anthracnose lesions were grown on PDA at 25ºC and 12h photoperiod under fluorescent light. The representative isolates DzC1, DzC2 and DzC6 were morphologically and molecularly characterized. Upper surface of colonies varied from white or pale-gray to gray and on the reverse dark-gray with white to pale-gray margins. Conidia were cylindrical, with both ends predominantly rounded or one slightly acute, hyaline and aseptate. The length and width of conidia ranged from 9.5 to 18.9 µm (x ̅=14.1) and from 3.8 to 5.8 µm (x ̅=4.6), respectively. The ACT, βTUB2, GAPDH, APN2, APN2/MAT-IGS, and GAP2-IGS gene regions were amplified and sequenced with primers ACT-512F/ACT-783R (Carbone and Kohn, 1999), BT2Fd/BT4R (Woudenberg et al. 2009), GDF1/GDR1 (Guerber et al. 2003), CgDLR1/ColDLF3, CgDLF6/CgMAT1F2 (Rojas et al. 2010) and GAP1041/GAP-IGS2044 (Vieira et al. 2017) respectively and deposited in the GenBank database (MZ097888 to MZ097905). Multilocus phylogenetic analysis revealed that Uruguayan isolates clustered in a separate and well supported clade with sequences of the ex-type (isolate ICMP 18578) and other C. siamense strains (isolates Coll6, 1092, LF139 and CMM 4248). To confirm pathogenicity, mature and apparently healthy peach fruit cv. Pavia Canario were inoculated with the three representative isolates of C. siamense (six fruit per isolate). Fruit were surface disinfested with 70% ethanol and wounded with a sterile needle at two equidistant points (1 mm diameter x 1 mm deep). Then, fruit were inoculated with 5 µl of a spore suspension (1×106 conidia mL-1) in four inoculation points per fruit (two wounded and two unwounded). Six fruit mock-inoculated with 5 µl sterile water were used as controls. Inoculated fruit were placed in moist chamber and incubated at 25°C during 10 days. Anthracnose lesions appeared at 2 and 4 days after inoculation in wounded and unwounded points, respectively. After 7 days, disease incidence was 100% and 67% for wounded and unwounded fruit, respectively. The control treatment remained symptomless. The pathogens were re-isolated from all lesions and re-identified as C. siamense. C. siamense was previously reported in South Carolina causing anthracnose on peach (Hu et al. 2015). To our knowledge, this is the first report of anthracnose disease on peach caused by C. siamense in Uruguay. Effective management strategies should be implemented to control anthracnose and prevent the spread of this disease to other commercial peach orchards.


Author(s):  
Erol H. Cakmak

Irrigated agriculture in Turkey currently consumes 75 percent of the total water consumption, which corresponds to about 30 percent of the renewable water supply. Unfavorable future global climate and economic conditions will increase the stress in the water sector. The operation and maintenance (O&M) of almost all large surface irrigation schemes developed by the state has been transferred to irrigation associations governed by the farmers. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of irrigation management practices and an evaluation of irrigation water pricing after the transfer using price data at the association level since 1999. Results indicate that both irrigation water charges and collection rates increased following the transfer. However, the recuperation of investment costs for irrigation development from the users has remained minimal. The price of the irrigation water continued to be on per hectare basis, and farmers using pumping water face 2.5 times higher water charge per hectare then the gravity water users. The uptake of more efficient water application technology accompanied by pricing mechanisms reflecting scarcity value of water will certainly ease the adjustment burden of the irrigation sector in the future.


Author(s):  
Erol H. Cakmak

Irrigated agriculture in Turkey currently consumes 75 percent of the total water consumption, which corresponds to about 30 percent of the renewable water supply. Unfavorable future global climate and economic conditions will increase the stress in the water sector. The operation and maintenance (O&M) of almost all large surface irrigation schemes developed by the state has been transferred to irrigation associations governed by the farmers. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of irrigation management practices and an evaluation of irrigation water pricing after the transfer using price data at the association level since 1999. Results indicate that both irrigation water charges and collection rates increased following the transfer. However, the recuperation of investment costs for irrigation development from the users has remained minimal. The price of the irrigation water continued to be on per hectare basis, and farmers using pumping water face 2.5 times higher water charge per hectare then the gravity water users. The uptake of more efficient water application technology accompanied by pricing mechanisms reflecting scarcity value of water will certainly ease the adjustment burden of the irrigation sector in the future.


1970 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Mosiur Rahman ◽  
A.H.M. Kamal ◽  
Abdullah Al Mamun ◽  
Md. Shafi Uddin Miah

Irrigated agriculture has been playing a vital role for the growth in crop production in Bangladesh. Minor irrigation comprising of shallow tubewells (STWs), deep tubewells (DTWs), hand tubewells (HTWs) and low-lift pumps (LLPs) is a major irrigation system in the country. Poor performance of irrigation is an issue for the expansion of irrigated area. The present study was carried out to examine the conveyance efficiency and rate of irrigation water loss in DTW schemes in Bogra, Thakurgaon and Godagari zones of Barind Management Development Authority. There were various types of water distribution identified in these schemes with including Poly Venyl Chloride (PVC) buried pipe, cement concrete (CC) rectangular, Ferro trapezoidal, Ferro semicircular and rectangular earth drain. The average conveyance efficiency of PVC buried pipe for Bogra, Thakurgaon and Godagari zones ranged from 94.46% to 95.37% and rate of water loss ranged from 5.45% to 9.55% in three study zones. Average conveyance efficiency of CC rectangular for Bogra and Godagari zone ranged from 91.20% and rate of water loss from 6.58% to 9.93%. Average conveyance efficiency of Ferro trapezoid for Bogra and Godagari zone ranged from 87.80% to 90.06% and rate of water loss ranged from 9.94% to 12.21%. Average conveyance efficiency of Ferro semicircle for Bogra and Godagari zone ranged between 88.13% and 86.82% and rate of water loss between 11.59% and 11.68%. Average conveyance efficiency and rate of water loss of rectangular earth drain Godagari zone was 58.66% and 42.29% respectively. About 80% farmers recommended buried pipe irrigation system and about 20% semi-circular channel. The study suggests that the improved water distribution system as developed by BMDA is sustainable to increase productivity of irrigation systems in Bangladesh. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbayr.v1i2.10032


1988 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Gold ◽  
Thomas Weaver ◽  
Edwin Porter ◽  
James Opaluch

This study constructs a simulation model to evaluate the potential for conflict among residential and agricultural users of water in southern Rhode Island. The model estimates the profitability of irrigation of turf farms and projects the total use and the economic value of irrigation water. The results indicate that the economic value of irrigation water compares favorably with current residential water prices in the area. In addition, substantial demand for irrigation water is projected. Given current rates of growth in turf acreage and residential water use, there appears to be a significant potential for conflict, particularly given the absence of well developed institutions for allocating water among users.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 3336
Author(s):  
Saray Gutiérrez-Gordillo ◽  
Leontina Lipan ◽  
Víctor Hugo Durán Zuazo ◽  
Esther Sendra ◽  
Francisca Hernández ◽  
...  

The Mediterranean region is one of the most water-scarce areas worldwide and is considered a climate-change hotspot. To assure the viability and competitiveness of irrigated agriculture, it is vital to implement strategies that can maximize water saving without compromising yield. Deficit irrigation (DI) for cultivating drought-tolerant species such as almond (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A. Webb) can help in achieving this goal, while at the same time improving fruit chemical composition. This work evaluated the effect of DI techniques and cultivars on the chemical composition of almonds (cvs. Marta, Guara, and Lauranne) in order to elucidate the most suitable irrigation dose under water-scarcity scenarios. Three irrigation regimes were imposed: a control treatment (FI), which was fully irrigated, receiving 100% of the irrigation requirement (IR), and two sustained-deficit irrigation (SDI) strategies that received 75% (SDI75) and 65% (SDI65) of IR. Significant differences among cultivars and irrigation treatments were observed for antioxidant activity and organic acid, sugar, and fatty acid content, which were increased by the SDI strategies. In addition, highly significant correlations were found between leaf-water potential and components such as fumaric acid, sugars, and fatty acids. In terms of the cultivars, cv. Marta showed the highest antioxidant activity, cv. Guara was the richest in organic acids, and cv. Lauranne had the highest fatty acid content. Consequently, SDI strategies improved almond quality parameters related to their nutritional and sensory composition, with significant water savings (reductions of 25–35%) and without important yield loss.


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