Soil moisture, field-scale toposequential position, and slope effects on yields in irrigated rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.) fields in Honduras — Oak Academic Publishing
Research ArticleOpen AccessGoogle Scholar indexed
Soil moisture, field-scale toposequential position, and slope effects on yields in irrigated rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.) fields in Honduras
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA
,
School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, USA;
1 Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA
2 School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, USA;
Rice ( Oryza sativa L.) is an important cash crop in Honduras. The availability of inexpensive irrigation in the study area (Flores, La Villa de San Antonio, Comayagua) encourages rice farmers to neglect prescribed methods of soil and water conservation, such land leveling, puddling, and soil bunds. This study looked at the effect of failure to mitigate water loss on sloping fields. Soil moisture (Volumetric Water Content) was measured using a soil moisture probe after the termination of the first irrigation within the tillering/vegetative, panicle emergence/flowering, post-flowering/pre-maturation and maturation stages. Yield data were obtained by harvesting on 1 m 2 plots in each soil moisture testing site. Data analyses looked at the relationship between yield and slope, soil moisture, farmers, and toposequential position along transects. Toposequential position influenced yields more than slope and soil moisture was not a significant predictor of yields. Irrigation politics, high water inputs, and land tenure were proposed as the major reasons for this result.
De Datta, S.K. (1981) Principles and practices of rice production. John Wiley and Sons, Singapore.
Bouman, B.A.M. (2001) Water-efficient management strategies in rice production. International Rice Research Notes, 26, 17-22.
Yang, J. and Zhang, J. (2010) Crop management techniques to enhance harvest index in rice. Journal of Experimental Botany, 61, 3177-3189. doi:10.1093/jxb/erq112
Grassi, C., Bouman, B.A.M., Cataneda, A.R., Manselli, M. and Vecchio, V. (2009) Aerobic rice: crop performance and water use efficiency. Journal of Agriculture and Environment for International Development, 103, 259-270.
Bouman, B.A.M. and Tuong, T.P. (2001) Field water management to save water and increase its productivity in irrigated lowland rice. Agricultural Water Management, 49, 11-30. doi:10.1016/S0378-3774(00)00128-1
Gun Won, J., Soo Choi, J., Phil Lee, S., Ho Son, S. and Ok Chung, S. (2005) Water saving by shallow intermittent irrigation and growth of rice. Plant Production Science, 8, 487-492. doi:10.1626/pps.8.487
de Vries, M.E., Rodenburg, J., Bado, B.V., Sow, A., Leffelaar, P.A. and Giller, K.E. (2010) Rice production with less irrigation water is possible in a Sahelian environment. Field Crops Research, 116, 154-164. doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2009.12.006
Peng, S., Bouman B., Visperas, R.M., Castaneda, A., Nie, L. and Park, H.K. (2006) Comparison between aerobic and flooded rice in the tropics: Agronomic performance in an eight-season experiment. Field Crops Research, 96, 252-259. doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2005.07.007
Cabangon, R.J., Castillo, E.G., Lu, G., Cui, Y.L., Tuong, T.P., Bouman, B.A.M., Li, Y., Chen, C., Wang, J.X. and Liu, X. (2001) Impact of alternate wetting and drying irrigation on rice growth and resource-use efficiency. Conference Papers, International Water Management Institute.
Borell, A., Garside, A. and Shu, F.K. (1997) Improving efficiency of water for irrigated rice in a semi-arid tropical environment. Field Crops Research, 52, 231-248. doi:10.1016/S0378-4290(97)00033-6
Sharma, P.K. (1989) Effect of periodic moisture stress on water-use efficiency in wetland rice. Oryza, 26, 252-257.
Bouman, B.A.M, Lampayan, R.M. and Tuong, T.P. (2007) Water management in irrigated rice: Coping with water scarcity. IRRI, Los Banos, Philippines.
Almedarez, H.E. (1988) Agro-climatic zones of Honduras: Volume 4 (southwest central region). Secretary of Natural Resources, Department of Hydraulic and Climate Services, Agrometeorology Section, The Office of Environmental Issues at the Municipality of San Antonio Mayors Office in the Municipality of San Antonio, Comayagua, Honduras.
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, 27, 29-37. doi:10.1097/00010694-193401000-00003
Mehlich, A. (1984) Mehlich 3 soil test extractant: A modification of the Mehlich 2 extractant. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 15, 1409-1416. doi:10.1080/00103628409367568
Bouyoucos, G.J. (1936) Directions for making mechanical analysis of soils by the hydrometer method. Soil Science, 42, 225-230. doi:10.1097/00010694-193609000-00007
Burt, R. (2004) Soil survey laboratory methods manual. Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA, Washington DC.
Earnshaw, K. (2011) The effects of soil moisture, fieldscale toposequential position, and slope on yields in irrigated upland rice in Flores, Comayagua, Honduras. Master’s Thesis, Michigan Technological University, Houghton.
Steel, R.G.D. and Torrie, J.H. (1960) Principles and procedures of statistics, with special reference to the biological sciences. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.
Kravchenko, A.N., Bullock, D.G. and Boast, C.W. (2000) Joint multifractal analysis of crop yield and terrain slope. Agronomy Journal, 92, 1279-1290. doi:10.2134/agronj2000.9261279x
Kravchenko, A.N., Robertson, G.P., Thelen, K.D. and Harwood, R.R. (2005) Spatial variability: Management, topographical and weather effects on spatial variability of crop grain yields. Agronomy Journal, 97, 514-523. doi:10.2134/agronj2005.0514
Dunne, T. and Leopold, L.B. (1978) Water in environmental planning. W.H. Freeman and Co., New York.
Boling, A.A., Tuong, T.P., Suganda, H., Konboon, Y., Harnpichitvitaya, D., Bouman, B.A.M. and Franco, D.T. (2008) The effect of toposequence position on soil properties, hydrology and yield of rainfed lowlands in Southeast Asia. Field Crops Research, 106, 22-33. doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2007.10.013
Inthavong, T., Fukai, S. and Tsubo, M. (2011) Spatial variations in water availability, soil fertility and grain yield in rainfed lowland rice: A case study from Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR. Plant Production Science, 14, 184-195. doi:10.1626/pps.14.184
Perry, C.J. (2001) Charging for irrigation water: The issues and options, with a case study from Iran. International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Tanguilig, V.C., Yambao, E.B., O’Toole, J.C. and De Datta, S.K. (1987) Water stress effects on leaf elongation, leaf water potential, transpiration, and nutrient uptake of rice, maize and soybean. Plant and Soil, 103, 155-168. doi:10.1007/BF02370385
Fukai, S., Inthapanya, P., Blamey, F.P.C. and Khunthasuvon, S. (1999) Genotypic variation in rice grown in low fertile soils and drought-prone, rain-fed lowland environments. Field Crops Research, 64, 121-130. doi:10.1016/S0378-4290(99)00055-6
Narayana, V., Dhruva, V. and Sastry, G. (1985) Soil conservation in India. In: El-Swaify, S.A., Moldenhauer, W.C. and Andrew, L., Eds., Soil Erosion and Conservation, Soil Conservation Society of America, Ankeny, 3-9.
Pimentel, D., Harvey, C., Resosudarmo, P., Sinclair, K., Kurz, D., McNair, M., Crist, S., Shpritz, L., Fitton, L., Saffouri, R. and Blair, R. (1995) Environmental and economic costs of soil erosion and conservation benefits. Science, 267, 1117-1123. doi:10.1126/science.267.5201.1117
Cho, J.Y. (2003) Seasonal runoff estimation of N and P in a paddy field of central Korea. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 6, 43-52. doi:10.1023/A:1021819014494
Alemu, T. (1999) Insecure land tenure regimes and soil conservation. Department of Economics, Goteborg University, Gothenburg. http://eldorado.ucol.mx/icons/bdl/arc/02.pdf.
Beets, W.C. (1990) Raising and sustaining productivity of smallholder farming systems in the tropics. AgBé Publishing, Alkmaar.
Soule, M.J., Tegene, A. and Wiebe, K.D. (2000) Land tenure and the adoption of conservation practices. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 82, 993-1005. doi:10.1111/0002-9092.00097
Polson, R.E. and Spencer, D.S.C. (1991) The technology adoption process in subsistence agriculture: the case of cassava in southwestern Nigeria. Agricultural Systems, 36, 65-78. doi:10.1016/0308-521X(91)90108-M
Arellanes, P.G. (1994) Factors influencing the adoption of hillside agriculture technologies in Honduras. Master’s Thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca.
Satterlee, B.M., Yemefack, M. and Orr, B.D. (2009) Maize yield and soil property responses to Entada abyssinica (Steud. ex A. Rich.) cuttings in the Adamawa Lowlands, Cameroon. Journal of Food, Agriculture, and Environment, 7, 192-196.