Surface Water Quality Impacts of Conservation Tillage Practices on Burley Tobacco Production Systems in Southwest Virginia [Erratum: 2007 Mar., v. 180, no. 1-4, p. 293.]

Benham, Brian L.; Laird, Megan K.; Ross, Blake B.; Vaughan, David H.; Peek, Danny R.

Surface Water Quality Impacts of Conservation Tillage Practices on Burley Tobacco Production Systems in Southwest Virginia [Erratum: 2007 Mar., v. 180, no. 1-4, p. 293.]

2007

Benham, Brian L. | Laird, Megan K. | Ross, Blake B. | Vaughan, David H. | Peek, Danny R.

A plot-scale, rainfall-simulation study measured edge-of-field pollutant losses from conventional-till, strip-till, and no-till treatments in a burley tobacco production system. The field experiment results show that the conventional-till treatment yielded more total runoff than strip- and no-till treatments. Compared to the conventional-till treatment, both no-till and strip-till reduced the total mass losses of total suspended solids (TSS), total nitrogen (TN), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), nitrate (NO-N), ammonia (NH₃-N), total phosphorus (TP), orthophosphate (PO₄-P), and the insecticide chlorpyrifos in runoff. Although statistical analyses indicated that there was no significant difference between the no-till and strip-till practices, the no-till practice consistently yielded less edge-of-field pollutant loss than the strip-till practice. This research reinforces the body of knowledge documenting the effectiveness of conservation-tillage practices in reducing edge-of-field pollutant losses.

Afficher plus [+]