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The Mississippi Delta Management Systems Evaluation Area project (MDMSEA) was a part of a national program entitled Agricultural Systems for Environmental Quality (ASEQ) and is being conducted by a consortium of Federal, State, and local agencies. Primary research agencies are the USDA Agricultural Research Service (Oxford and Stoneville, MS and Baton Rouge, LA locations), the U. S. Geological Survey (Jackson, MS district office), and the Mississippi Water Resources Research Institute (Mississippi State Univ.).
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MAJOR OBJECTIVES
- Develop alternative and innovative farming systems for improved water quality/ecology in the Mississippi Delta
- Increase the knowledge to design and evaluate economical environmentally-sound best management practices (BMPs: 1, 2, 3, 4 ) as components of farming systems
- Assess the effects of these agricultural activities on surface and shallow ground water quality (measurements : 1, 2, 3, 4)
- Increase awareness and adoption by farmers/landowners of alternative farming systems to reduce adverse agricultural impacts on water resources and ecological processes
EXPECTED BENEFITS
- Specific economically sound management recommendations for on-farm reduction of runoff-related contaminants
- A reduction in agrichemical application with a concomitant reduction in sediment as well as surface and subsurface agrichemical transport
- New knowledge of agrichemical filter/processing system design and effectiveness
- Improvements in crop residue and agrichemical management
- An increased knowledge of how the various physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils affect water and agrichemical movement
- Ecologically healthy lakes and streams with sustainable fisheries.
- The development of improved agrichemical transport models that allow for management, edaphic (inherent in the soil), and environmental variables
WATERSHED SITES
RELATED WEB SITES
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