Mississippi State University researchers are expanding long-term irrigation research to identify production practices that can help growers conserve water while maintaining or increasing crop yields across the Midsouth.
The project, led by Dave Spencer, associate professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and scientist with the Mississippi Water Resources Research Institute, is evaluating how tillage, row spacing, fertility management and irrigation practices influence crop productivity and water use at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station's Black Belt Branch.
The research builds on more than 20 years of irrigation studies conducted at the university's Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, Mississippi. There, Drew Gholson, associate professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and a Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station scientist, examined how conservation practices affect soil moisture, irrigation demand and water use efficiency in cotton production.
Results from the Stoneville research, recently published in Agricultural Water Management, found that cover crops improved water use efficiency in cotton.
The Brooksville project broadens that work by studying cotton, corn and soybeans across a wider range of soil types, weather conditions and production environments. Researchers aim to identify management practices that improve profitability while conserving water and other resources.
Spencer said the research is focused on developing practical production strategies that can benefit growers throughout Mississippi and the broader Midsouth. The project is examining improvements in tillage, row spacing and fertility management to increase production efficiency.
Researchers are comparing conventional production systems with conservation-based approaches to determine which practices make the most efficient use of water while sustaining or improving crop performance.
The study includes 27 research plots equipped with soil moisture sensors, runoff samplers and irrigation equipment to monitor water movement and measure water use efficiency. Scientists are evaluating wide and narrow row spacings, alternative nitrogen management strategies, and no-till, reduced-tillage and cover crop systems in corn-soybean and corn-cotton rotations.
According to Gholson, the design of the studies enables researchers to measure water entering and leaving each research plot with a high level of precision. The resulting data allow scientists to develop detailed water budgets for individual plots and better understand how different production practices influence water use.
Source: Mississippi State University, "MSU research identifies farming practices that improve irrigation efficiency"