12/12/2016

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Project Team

Reddy, Krishna

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2009

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Related National Programs
Water Availability and Water

Management (211)
Agricultural System
Competitiveness and Sustainability|
(216)

Project : USDA ARS.

S62@9800

Research Project: Development of Sustainable Production Systems and Water Management
Technology for the Mid South

Location: Crop Production Systems Research

2013 Annual Report

1a. Objectives (from AD-416):
Develop cropping systems, conservation management practices and crop rotations with improved water management and
enhanced economic and environmental sustainability.

1b. Approach (from AD-416):

Improved irrigation scheduling and application technologies and water management tools will be developed and delivered to
producers to improve water use and crop yield and quality. The research will develop production systems and identify
management practices that improve soil quality and increase profitability by incorporating conservation production practices,
alternative crops and crop rotations. Profitability of management practices and production systems will be tested with economic
analysis. Fundamental principles of successful production systems will be delineated, and examined for impacts on risks,
competitiveness and environmental impacts.

3. Progress Report:

Significant progress was made in the implementation and testing of water management tools. The new Mississippi Irrigation
Scheduling Tool (MIST) was tested and validated for common corn and soybean production practices and soil types in
Mississippi in research and production fields. Watermark soil water sensors were installed at six inch (15 om) increments to a
depth of three feet (0.91 m), and soil water measurements downloaded weekly. Plant growth measurements were taken weekly,
and used to develop single crop coefficients as outlined in established procedures. Dual crop coefficients are being explored as
a possible method of accounting for variability of alluvial soils. Soil water measurements and plant growth measurements were
compared to evapotranspiration calculations made with the Modified Penman-Monteith in the MIST program to adjust crop
coefficients to better reflect actual crop water use in the soils and environment of the Delta. Water release curves for typical
Mississippi soils were developed and soil moisture sensors calibrated to known water contents. Soils textural analysis is used to
adjust recommended irrigation levels based on soil water holding capacity. Note that most soils are silt and loam; no soils that
were analyzed were true clay soils. Analyzed soils will have approximately 1.2-2.5 inches of plant available water per foot of
soil. Soil cores were taken from production and research fields, and bulk density, soil nutrient and soil hydraulic properties
determined. Weather data was downloaded from all weather stations reported by the Delta Research and Extension Center
Weather Center and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) weather systems
was analyzed for completeness and accuracy. The impact of planting date and irrigation on soybean yield was determined. Early
planted soybeans yielded higher, but were more susceptible to lack of adequate water. Two primary crop parameters can be
Used for tracking crop growth: plant height and interception of sunlight. Results show that light interception is more appropriate
for tracking crop growth as a single curve can be used for most planting dates. Plant height differs with planting date. The overall
magnitude of crop height is most likely cultivar dependent. However, later planting increases the rate of crop growth, altering the
initial stage of the crop height growth curve. The uniform resource locator for the web site server is now open. We have begun
writing summaries and educational materials for the water management website. The information can be viewed at:
http:/vww.agwater.msucare.com. The irrigation scheduler has been implemented into the user interface, and the interface is
being tested.

4. Accomplishments

Review Publications
Parajuli, P.B., Jayakody, P., Sassenrath, G.F., Ouyang, Y., Pote, J.W. 2013. Assessing the impacts of crop-rotation and tillage on
crop yields and sediment yield using a modeling approach. Agricultural Water Management. 119:32-42.

Greebisz, W., Gaj, R., Sassenrath, G.F,, Halloran, J.M. 2012. Fertilizer use and wheat yield in Central and Eastern European

countries from 1986 to 2005 and its implication for developing sustainable fertilizer management practices. Communications in
Soil Science and Plant Analysis. 43:2358-2375.

Last Modified: 2/23/2016)

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