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Ultra Narrow-row Cotton for Erosion Control in Silt Loam Soils

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Paper number  052149,  2005 ASAE Annual Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.18941) @2005
Authors:   R. F. Cullum, G.V. Wilson, K. C. McGregor, J. R. Johnson
Keywords:   Ultra narrow-row cotton, erosion control, grass hedges, C-factor, RUSLE

Grass hedges and no-till cropping systems reduced soil losses on standard erosion plots in ultra narrow-row (20 cm) cotton during a four-year study (1999-2002). No-till cotton with grass hedges, no-till cotton without grass hedges, conventional-till cotton with grass hedges, and conventional-till cotton without grass hedges produced four-year average annual soil losses of 1.8, 2.9, 4.0, and 30.8 t/ha, respectively, and produced four-year average runoff amounts of 226, 364, 338, and 738 mm, respectively. The annual ratio of soil loss for no-till ultra narrow-row cotton plots with grass hedges to those without hedges averaged 0.62. The annual ratio of soil loss for conventional-till plots with grass hedges to without hedges was 0.13. Averaged over all plots (with and without grass hedges), no-till plots reduced soil loss from conventional-till plots by 86%. No-till plots without grass hedges had 90% less soil loss than conventional-till plots without grass hedges. Grass hedges effectively reduced soil loss on erosion plots with similar cropping practices as compared to plots without hedges. Other studies of contoured grass hedges on field-sized areas are being conducted to determine their applicability on larger areas with greater concentrations of runoff.

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