Purdue Leads Research to Improve Water Management
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Academic
A Purdue University researcher is heading a $5 million federally funded project examining the economic and environmental benefits and costs of storing water on farms in ways for crops to use it when they need it and to reduce nutrients draining into waterways
A Purdue University researcher is heading a $5 million federally funded project examining the economic and environmental benefits and costs of storing water on farms in ways for crops to use it when they need it and to reduce nutrients draining into waterways.
Jane Frankenberger, professor of agricultural and biological engineering, is directing the five-year research.
"Both of these problems are expected to get more pressing with climate change," Frankenberger said. "This research will collect data now that will help farmers make better decisions in the future."
The research is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Other universities in the research project titled "Managing Water for Increased Resiliency of Drained Agricultural Landscapes" are Iowa State, North Dakota State, Ohio State, Missouri, North Carolina State, South Dakota State and Minnesota, as well as the USDA's Agricultural Research Service.
The objective is to advance three innovative practices that can address the problems of crop loss from increased likelihood of summer drought and the degradation of water quality from drained farmland:
* Drainage water management: Unlike conventional drainage systems, this practice conserves water by increasing its retention time in the soil profile, thereby delaying or reducing the draining of soil water.
* Saturated buffers: These store water within the soil of field buffers by diverting tile water into structures that raise the water table and slow outflow. Early results of a study indicate they can be effective in removing nitrate from tile drain water before it is discharged into surface waters such as streams.
* Reservoirs: With this "capture and use" system, subsurface drainage water is diverted into on-farm reservoirs, or ponds, where it is stored until it is needed to irrigate crops.
Source: AgriNews
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