Information
Best Management Practices to Minimise Pollutant Transport from Cotton Production Systems – Darling Farms, Bourke, NSW
Level 1 General description
Purpose:
The transport mechanisms and fate of cotton pesticides and nutrients were investigated as part of a major R&D program undertaken by the cotton industry.
Methods (brief)
Sediment, nutrient and pesticide movement from rainfall and irrigation runoff were monitored over two seasons at a paddock scale with wheat-cotton double crop rotation and an adjacent conventional cotton treatment.
Key findings (brief)
Sediment load was reduced by almost 90 per cent during the first irrigation and about 60 per cent in the second irrigation, in the wheat stubble field, compared to the bare fallow cotton. During the following irrigations, the amount of soil leaving the two fields was approximately equal.
During the first irrigation, endosulfan concentration in water leaving the wheat stubble field was reduced by 80% relative to the bare fallow field. This reduction is related to the reduction in soil movement, but also is a reflection of the fact that the bare fallow field had received a recent endosulfan application. During subsequent irrigations, the endosulfan movement from the wheat stubble field was always less than the bare fallow field. On average, the endosulfan concentration in the tail water of the stubble field was approximately three and a half times less than the concentration of the wheat stubble fields.
Location
Darling Farms, Bourke, NSW.
Related studies
Silburn DM, Glanville SF. (2002). Management practices for control of runoff losses from cotton furrows under storm rainfall. I. Runoff and sediment on a black Vertosol. Australian Journal of Soil Research 40:1-20.
Silburn DM, Simpson BW, Hargreaves PA. (2002). Management practices for control of runoff losses from cotton furrows under storm rainfall. II. Transport of pesticides in runoff. Australian Journal of Soil Research 40:21-44.
Silburn DM, Hunter HM. (2009). Management practices for control of runoff losses from cotton furrows under storm rainfall. III. Cover and wheel traffic effects on nutrients (N and P) in runoff from a black Vertosol. Australian Journal of Soil Research 47:221-233.
Waters D. February 2001. Best management practices to minimise pollutant transport from cotton production systems. CRDC. Emerald Irrigation Area – Black Farm and Deepfield Farm.