Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2017ND333B

Study On-Farm Evaluation of Interactive Effect of Subsurface Tile Drainage, Tillage and Crop Rotation on Nitrate Leaching

Institute: North Dakota
Year Established: 2017 Start Date: 2017-03-01 End Date: 2018-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $3,149 Total Non-Federal Funds: $6,298

Principal Investigators: Amitava Chatterjee

Project Summary: Nitrate N is mobile and, therefore, can be lost from soil by leaching. Subsequent transport of nitrate N to surface waters occurs through subsurface drainage (tile lines) or base flow. Although tile drainage has many benefits it also may increase nitrate N losses through the root zone and out to surface waters. Loss of nitrate through tile drainage depends on its interaction with amount of fertilizer N applied, crop rotation and tillage practices. Comparison of no-tillage with conventional tillage on below root zone nitrate concentration is critical to reduce the N loss through subsurface drainage. On the other hand, continuous corn has increased the amount of fertilizer N application intensity compared to corn-soybean rotation. Finally, including control system under tile drainage also can reduce the N loss from the field. Our research goal is to understand the interactive effect of (i) tile drainage system, (ii) tillage and (iii) crop rotation on nitrate leaching loss through subsurface tile drainage system. Research objectives are (a) to study the effect of tile drainage system, tillage and crop rotation on nitrate leaching loss under tile drainage system. (b) to understand and estimate soil inorganic N content under different tile drainage, tillage and crop rotation.