NEWS RELEASE:
USDA and LSU Embark on New Sugarcane Drainage Research
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ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
May 10, 1999
Jill Lee, (301) 504-1627, jlee@asrr.arsusda.gov
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BATON ROUGE, La., May 10--The USDA's Agricultural Research Service and
Louisiana State University Agricultural Center today begin a long-term
research project to evaluate pump-enhanced underground drainage for
sugarcane fields as a tool for preventing farm chemical run-off.
"Sugarcane growers are coming under increasing pressure to reduce the amount
of nitrogen fertilizer and other farm chemicals leaving their fields and
entering streams and lakes," said ARS agricultural engineer James L. Fouss,
who heads the project for the agency's Soil and Water Research Unit in Baton
Rouge. "A controlled subsurface drainage system allows rainwater to
infiltrate the soil and thus reduces runoff from the land, so agrochemicals
and topsoil stay in the field where they belong."
The project will allow scientists to evaluate water run off rates from
fields with traditionally farmed crops compared to the new method. This
could help sugarcane growers learn how well their familiar practices work in
pollution control.
"The project will be conducted on a 16-acre site at the university's
Sugarcane Research Station in St. Gabriel, La.," said Larry Rogers, vice
chancellor and experiment station director of LSU's Ag Center. "Today, area
sugarcane growers will have an opportunity to tour the site, see subsurface
drains installed and ask questions of researchers from ARS and LSU."
Two-thirds of the research site will have the subsurface drainage system of
corrugated plastic pipe--allowing for improved drainage to remove excess
soil-water, but also allowing the water back into the soil by
sub-irrigation. The remainder of the site will use only traditional surface
drainage.
There has been some resistance to the technology because of the expense to
install such a system--$450 an acre. But growers are also aware that the
pumping system enhances yields and that it would also protect them from
getting their harvesting equipment stuck in mud during rainy growing
seasons. The environmental protection, however, may be an added reason for
growers to consider this irrigation and drainage technology. An agricultural
economist will be part of the project's team and will explore ways to make
its use more cost effective.
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Scientific contact: James L. Fouss or Ted S. Kornecki, ARS Soil and Water
Research Unit, Baton Rouge, La., phone (225) 382- 2089, fax (225) 389-0327,
jfouss@gumbo.bae.lsu.edu or kornecki@gumbo.bae.lsu.edu: Larry Rodgers,
Louisiana State University Ag Center, Baton Rouge, La., phone (225)
388-4181, lrogers@agctr.lsu.edu.
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This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information
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* ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD
20705-5128, (301) 504- 1617, fax 504-1648.
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