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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Water Quality and Ecology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #167621
Title: CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT IN MID-SOUTH U. S. ROW CROPS

Author
item Locke, Martin
item Zablotowicz, Robert
item Dabney, Seth
item Reddy, Krishna
item Steinriede, Robert

Submitted to: National Conservation Tillage Cotton and Rice Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/17/2003
Publication Date: 1/15/2004
Citation: Locke, M.A., Zablotowicz, R.M., Dabney, S.M., Reddy, K.N., Steinriede Jr., R.W. 2004. Conservation management in Mid-South U. S. row crops. National Conservation Tillage Cotton and Rice Conference Proceedings. Tunica, Mississippi, January 2004. p. 17.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Field studies conducted over a number of years under Mid-South US conditions determined that conservation practices built up soil organic matter and reduced soil loss, but those practices have to be maintained or soils can rapidly revert to their original conditions. Under flatland Mississippi Delta conditions, cotton lint and soybean yields under dryland no-tillage management were usually equal to or lower than that of conventional practices, but lower management inputs in no-tillage may offset marginal yield differences. A three-year study demonstrated that rotating corn and cotton under reduced tillage improved yields for both crops. Under cotton management, either using rye as a cover crop or no cover crop tended to produce greater lint yield than under balansa clover cover crop. Under conservation tillage systems, a higher level of weed management may be required, with particular consideration to the potential establishment of perennial weeds.