Soil Erosion Contribution to Pesticide Transport by Furrow Irrigation

Abstract

Movement of pesticides from fields in runoff water and on sediment can degrade surface waters. Research typically found that because of the high water‐to‐sediment ratio, the total amount of pesticide in water greatly exceeded that associated with sediment. These observations suggested that erosion control would have little effect in reducing pesticide transport from the field. A laboratory study was conducted in a miniature furrow system to determine whether reduction in erosion would contribute to a reduction of napropamide [2‐α‐naphthoxy)‐N,N‐diethylpropionamide] transport. Variable erosion was created by polymer addition to the water combined with using variable water flow rates. Bromide was used as a nonsorbing independent tracer. Napropamide transport was linearly related to the amount of fine soil particulates eroded. Bromide transport was independent of the amount of erosion, and the percentage of the applied Br− removed in the runoff was less than that of napropamide. The results indicate that reduction in erosion of fine particulates will result in reduced transport of sorbed pesticides from the field.

Polyacrylamide in Agriculture and Environmental Land Management

“…Reducing erosion helps prevent contamination of receiving waters with pesticides much as it helps prevent nutrient enrichment. Agassi et al (1995) used miniature furrows in the laboratory to study the loss of the nonionic herbicide napropamide from Hanford sandy loam soil (Typic Xerorthent) in runoff. Irrigation flow rates were controlled among treatments and were either distilled or treated with 10-ppm anionic PAM.…”

Polyacrylamide preparations for protection of water quality threatened by agricultural runoff contaminants

“…The most significant environmental effect of PAM use is its erosion reduction, protecting surface waters from sediment and other contaminants washed from eroding fields. PAM greatly reduces nutrients, pesticides, and biological oxygen demand (BOD) of irrigation return flows (Agassi et al, 1995;Lentz et al, 1998Lentz et al, , 2001. In Australian tests of PAM, sediment, nutrient, and pesticide reductions exceeded levels achieved by traditional conservation farming methods (Waters et al, 1999a, b).…”

The influence of high application rates of polyacrylamide on microbial metabolic potential in an agricultural soil

“…Runoff sediment reduction averaged 94% and infiltration increased 15% in a series of studies conducted over 3 years (Sojka et al, 1998a,b). Additional studies documented the capacity of PAMtreatment of furrow irrigation water to reduce sediments, nutrients and pesticides in irrigation water (Agassi et al, 1995;Bahr et al, 1996;Singh et al, 1996;Sojka et al, 1998a,b;.…”