The Effect of Wheat Straw on Flow Characteristics and Rill Erosion in Wheat Rainfed Field

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associated Professor, Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran.

2 MSc. Student, Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran.

Abstract

Rill erosion is one of the most important reasons of the soil lost in the plowed rainfed fields alongside the slope. Increasing infiltration rate in the soil and decreasing the erosivity of flow is essential for controlling rill erosion as well as increasing crop yield. This research was carried out to find out the effect of wheat straw on hydraulic characteristics of the flow and rill erosion in the wheat rainfed field in semi-arid region in Zanjan. The experiment was performed at seven straw mulch levels (0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150 %) using the randomized complete block design with three replicates under the field conditions with plowing alongside the slope. At 100% level, 0.5 kgm-2 equivalent to five tons per hectare of straw mulch was applied into the soil. The results indicated that the effects of wheat straw on flow velocity, flow power and rill erosion was significant (p< 0.05), while its effect on the hydraulic radius and shear stress wasn’t statistically significant. These results were associated with a low depth of flow as affected by straw mulch in the furrow rills (p> 0.05). By increasing the wheat straw mulch level, the flow velocity, flow power and rill erosion decreased about 19, 23 and 55% respectively, as compared to the control treatment. There was a high correlation between the rill erosion and the flow velocity (r=0.71). The 100%-level of wheat straw mulch which decreased the flow power (34%) and the rill erosion (71%), was the most appropriate amount for decreasing rill erosion in rainfed wheat field. Generally, it can be concluded that the application of wheat straw mulch is a biological and proper practice for reducing erosivity of flow and controlling rill erosion in rainfed fields.

Keywords

Main Subjects


Abrahams, A. D., Parsons, A. J. and Luk, S. H. (1986). Field measurement of the velocity of overland flow using dye tracing. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 11(6), 653-657.
Akbari, S. and Vaezi, A.R. (2015). Investigating aggregates stability against raindrops impact in some soils of a semi-arid region, north west of Zanjan. Water and Soil Science. 25(2), 65-77. (In Farsi)
Adelpur, A.A., Soufi, M. and Behnia, A.K. (2006). Evaluation of the impact of mulches in rainfed farms on soil conservation in the arid and semi-­arid region in soiuth of Iran. Journal of Agriculture Science and Natural Resources. 13(2), 1-8.
Bhatt, R. and Khera, K. L. (2006). Effect of tillage and mode of straw mulch application on soil erosion in the submontaneous tract of Punjab, India. Soil and Tillage Research, 88(1), 107-115.
Blanco, H. and Lal, R. (2008). Principles of Soil Conservation and Management: Springer Science Business Media BV, pp. 626.
Bohn, H. L., Myer, R. A. and O'Connor, G. A. (2002) Soil Chemistry (3th ed.). Canada, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Bouajila, A. and Gallali, T. (2008). Soil organic carbon fractions and aggregate stability in carbonated and no carbonated soils in Tunisia. Journal of Agronomy, 7(2), 127-137.
Bouwer H. (1986) Intake rate: Cylinder infiltrometer. P. 825-844, In: A. klute (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis. Part I. Physical and Mineralogical methods. 2nd Ed. American Society of Agronomy, Inc. and Soil Science Society of American, Inc., Madison.
Cao, L., Zhang, K. and Zhang, W. (2009). Detachment of road surface soil by flowing water. Catena, 76(2), 155-162.
Center for Watershed Protection. (2001). Mats and blankets. Erosion and Sediment Control Fact Sheet 9. Center for Watershed Protection, Ellicott City, MD. pp 371.
Cochrane, T. A. and Flanagan, D. C. (1997). Detachment in a simulated rill. Transactions of the ASAE, 40(1), 111-119.
Day, P. R. (1965). Particle fractionation and particle-size analysis. Methods of soil analysis. Part 1. Physical and mineralogical properties, including statistics of measurement and sampling, (methods of soil analyze), 545-567.
Donjadee, S. and Tingsanchali, T. (2016). Soil and water conservation on steep slopes by mulching using rice straw and vetiver grass clippings. Agriculture and Natural Resources, 50(1), 75-79.
Duran., Z.V.H., Garcia, T.I., Francia, M.J.R. and Muriel, F.J.L. (2010). Soil erosion: causes processes and effects. In A.J. Fournier (Ed.), Soil Erosion: Causes, Processes and Effects. Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, New York, USA, pp. 1-36.
Govers, G. (1985). Selectivity and transport capacity of thin flows in relation to rill erosion. Catena, 12(1), 35-49.
Guo, T., Wang, Q., Li, D. and Zhuang, J. (2010). Effect of surface stone cover on sediment and solute transport on the slope of fallow land in the semi-arid loess region of northwestern China. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 10(6), 1200-1208.
Ji, S. and Unger, P. W. (2001). Soil water accumulation under different precipitation, potential evaporation, and straw mulch conditions. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 65(2), 442-448.
Jordan, A., Zavala, L. M. and Gil, J. (2010). Effects of mulching on soil physical properties and runoff under semi-arid conditions in southern Spain. Catena81(1), 77-85
Klute, A. (1986). Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 1 (Physical and Mineralogical Methods). American Society of Agronom Madison. No.9.
Knapen, A., Poesen, J., Govers, G., Gyssels, G. and Nachtergaele, J. (2007). Resistance of soils to concentrated flow erosion: A review. Earth-Science Reviews, 80(1), 75-109.
Mulumba, L. N. and Lal, R. (2008). Mulching effects on selected soil physical properties. Soil and Tillage Research, 98(1), 106-111.
Nearing, M. A., Bradford, J. M. and Parker, S. C. (1991). Soil detachment by shallow flow at low slopes. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 55(2), 339-344.
Nzeyimana, I., Hartemink, A. E., Ritsema, C., Stroosnijder, L., Lwanga, E. H. and Geissen, V. (2017). Mulching as a strategy to improve soil properties and reduce soil erodibility in coffee farming systems of Rwanda. Catena, 149, 43-51.
Poesen, J., Ingelmo‐Sanchez, F. and Mucher, H. (1990). The hydrological response of soil surfaces to rainfall as affected by cover and position of rock fragments in the top layer. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 15(7), 653-671.
Prosser, I. P. and Rustomji, P. (2000). Sediment transport capacity relations for overland flow. Progress in Physical Geography, 24(2), 179-193.
Prosser, I. P., Dietrich, W. E. and Stevenson, J. (1995). Flow resistance and sediment transport by concentrated overland flow in a grassland valley. Geomorphology, 13(1-4), 71-86.
Rahma, A. E., Lei, T., Shi, X., Dong, Y., Zhou, S. and  Zhao, J. (2013). Measuring flow velocity under straw mulch using the improved electrolyte tracer method. Journal of Hydrology, 495, 121-125.
Rieke‐Zapp, D., Poesen, J. and Nearing, M. A. (2007). Effects of rock fragments incorporated in the soil matrix on concentrated flow hydraulics and erosion. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 32(7), 1063-1076.
Robichaud, P. R., Jordan, P., Lewis, S. A., Ashmun, L. E., Covert, S. A. and Brown, R. E. (2013). Evaluating the effectiveness of wood shred and agricultural straw mulches as a treatment to reduce post-wildfire hillslope erosion in southern British Columbia, Canada. Geomorphology, 197, 21-33.
Roustaii, M., Hosseini, S. K., Hossein Pour, T. and Kalate, M. (2003). A Study of Adaptability and Stability of Grain Yield in Advanced Bread Wheat Genotypes in Warm and Semi-Warm Dryland Areas. Iranian Journal of Agriculture Science, 35(2), 427-436. (In Farsi)
Sadusky, M. C., Sparks, D. L., Noll, M. R. and  Hendricks, G. J. (1987). Kinetics and mechanisms of potassium release from sandy Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 51(6), 1460-1465.
Savat, J. and De Ploy, J. (1982). Sheetwash and rill development by surface flow. In Bryan RB and Yair A (ed.). Badland Geomorphology and Piping, 231-247.
Sharma, P., Abrol, V. and Sharma, R. K. (2011). Impact of tillage and mulch management on economics, energy requirement and crop performance in maize–wheat rotation in rainfed subhumid inceptisols, India. European Journal of Agronomy, 34(1), 46-51.
Smet, T., Poesen, J., Bhattacharyya, R., Fullen, M.A., Subedi, M., Booth, C.A., Kertesz, A., Szalai, Z., Toth, A., Jankauskas, B. and Jankauskiene, G. (2011). Evaluation of biological geotextiles for reducing runoff and soil loss under various environmental conditions using laboratory and field plot data. Land Degradation & Development, 22(5), 480-494.
Soil Survey Staff. (2010). Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 11th edn. USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service: Washington, DC.
Tan, K.H. (2005). Soil sampling preparation and Analysis. 2nd edition. Taylor and Francis/ CRC press
Tasumi, M. and Kimura, R. (2013). Estimation of volumetric soil water content over the Liudaogou river basin of the Loess Plateau using the SWEST method with spatial and temporal variability. Agricultural Water Management, 118, 22-28.
Toy, T.J., Foster, G.R. and Renard, K.G. (2002). Soil erosion processes, prediction, measurement under simulated rainfall. Soil Science, 150: 787-798.
Vaezi, A.R., Abbasi, M., Bussi, G. and Keesstra, S. (2017). Modeling sediment yield in semi-arid pasture micro-catchments, NW Iran. Land Degradation and Development, 28(4), 1274-1286.
Walkley, A. and Black, I. A. (1934). An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter, and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Science, 37(1), 29-38.
Wang, D., Wang, Z., Shen, N. and Chen, H. (2016). Modeling soil detachment capacity by rill flow using hydraulic parameters. Journal of Hydrology, 535, 473-479.
Wirtz, S., Seeger, M., Remke, A., Wengel, R., Wagner, J. F., and Ries, J. B. (2013). Do deterministic sediment detachment and transport equations adequately represent the process-interactions in eroding rills? An experimental field study. Catena, 101, 61-78.
Yoder, R. E. (1936). A direct method of aggregate analysis of soils and a study of the physical nature of erosion losses. Agronomy Journal, 28(5), 337-351.
Yu, B. (2003). A unified framework for water erosion and deposition equations. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 67(1), 251-257.
Zarinabadi, A. (2014). Soil erosion and yield of wheat under the influence of plow direction in the slope varying degrees. M.Sc. Thesis, Agriculture Faculty. University of Zanjan. (In Farsi)
Zhang, G. H., Liu, B. Y., Nearing, M. A., Huang, C. H. and Zhang, K. L. (2002). Soil detachment by shallow flow. Transactions of the ASAE, 45(2), 351.
Zhang, Q., Dong, Y., Li, F., Zhang, A., and Lei, T. (2014). Quantifying detachment rate of eroding rill or ephemeral gully for WEPP with flume experiments. Journal of Hydrology, 519, 2012-2019.