Furrow Irrigation Erosion Effects on Crop Production

Carter, D.L. (1984) Furrow Irrigation Erosion Effects on Crop Production. pp. 39-47. In: Proceedings of the Natl. Symp. on Erosion and Soil Productivity. Erosion and Soil Productivity. USA-LA-New Orleans, 1984/12/10-11.

PDF 539.pdf Download (250kB)

Abstract

Furrow erosion and sediment deposition redistributes topsoil within fields.
Both of these processes are directly proportional to the energy of the furrow
irrigation stream. This stream must be large enough at the application point
to provide sufficient water for infiltration along the entire furrow length
to meet the purposes of irrigation. Where slopes exceed about 0.7% on many
silt loam soils, the flow velocity combined with the stream size at the upper
ends of fields has sufficient energy to erode soil (Berg and Carter, 1980).
As the furrow stream size decreases from infiltration along the furrow, the
energy to erode and transport soil also decreases. At some point along the
furrow the stream energy reaches a level where it no longer erodes soil.
Then, further down slope, the energy reaches a level where the stream will no
longer carry the accumulated sediment from upstream erosion. At that point
sedimentation begins and continues downslope. The quantity of eroded soil
actually leaving the field through the furrow depends upon the sediment load
in the furrow stream at the entry point into the drain ditch at the lower end
of the field and the duration of the flow at that point.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
NWISRL Publication Number:	0539
Subjects:	Irrigation > Furrow irrigation > Erosion Soil > Erosion Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:55
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2017 18:20
Item ID:	883
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/883