Irrigation, Organic Matter Addition, and Tarping As Methods of Reducing Emissions of Methyl Iodide from Agricultural Soil

Abstract

Methyl iodide (MeI) is increasingly being used as a highly effective alternative to the soil fumigant methyl bromide. Due to its volatile and toxic nature, MeI draws wide attention on its potential atmospheric emission following field fumigation treatment. Using soil columns that make it possible to determine emissions and gas phase distribution of soil fumigants, we studied MeI behavior in two soils differing in organic matter content. Additionally, the effectiveness of surface irrigation and tarping with virtually impermeable film (VIF) was assessed. In the lower organic matter, bare soil (control), emissions of MeI were rapid and high (83% of total). Although the peak emission flux was reduced by irrigation, the total loss was very similar to the control (82%). Tarping with VIF dramatically reduced emissions (0.04% total emissions). In the higher organic matter soil, degradation rate of MeI was increased around 4-fold, leading to a significant reduction in emissions (63% total emissions). The work suggests that surface tarping with VIF would be highly effective as an emissions reduction strategy and would also result in the maintenance of high soil gas concentrations (important for pest control). Ripping of the tarp after two weeks led to an immediate spike release of MeI, but, even so, the flux rate at this time was almost 20 times lower than the peak flux rate in the control. Even with tarp ripping, the total emission loss from the VIF treatment remained low (6%).