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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Water Quality and Ecology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #265349
Title: From vegetated ditches to rice fields: Thinking outside the box for pesticide mitigation

Author
item Moore, Matthew
item KROGER, ROBERT - Mississippi State University
item FARRIS, JERRY - Arkansas State University
item Locke, Martin
item BENNETT, ERIN - Bioengineering Group
item DENTON, DEBRA - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
item Cooper, Charles

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Symposium Series
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/23/2011
Publication Date: 12/22/2011
Citation: Moore, M.T., Kroger, R., Farris, J.L., Locke, M.A., Bennett, E.R., Denton, D.L., Cooper, C.M. 2011. From vegetated ditches to rice fields: Thinking outside the box for pesticide mitigation. In: Goh, K., Bret, B.L., Potter, T. Gan, J. (Eds.), Pesticide Mitigation Strategies for Surface Water Quality. American Chemical Society Symposium Series 1075. pp. 29-37.

Interpretive Summary: Through irrigation events or stormwater runoff, pesticides have the opportunity to leave agricultural fields and impact aquatic receiving systems such as rivers, lakes or streams. Best management practices are needed to help reduce the potential harmful effects of these pollutants. A variety of management practices, from constructed wetlands to vegetated ditches to rice fields, have been studied for their mitigation efficiency. Management practices should not only be environmentally successful but should also be economically feasible for the farmer / landowner. This book chapter summarizes results of studies and offers suggestions for future management practices.

Technical Abstract: Pesticide contamination of surface waters has been a global concern for decades. In agricultural areas, pesticides enter aquatic receiving waters through irrigation and storm runoff, spray drift, or even atmospheric deposition. With increased pressure to continue producing food and fiber to sustain a growing global population, innovative mitigation strategies are necessary to address pesticide contamination of surface waters. Management practices incorporating vegetation and phytoremediation have demonstrated success in reducing pesticide loads to rivers, lakes, and streams. This chapter will focus on a variety of vegetative management practices (e.g. constructed wetlands, drainage ditches, and rice fields) which have been studied in the intensively cultivated Mississippi Delta. Summaries of research results will be presented, as well as potential future directions for additional research.