Abstract
Intense storm events on slowly permeable alluvial soils in southern Louisiana sugarcane fields cause significantsoil erosion. Sediment-bonded pesticides and nutrients are washed from the field and sediment fills surface drainage channels(quarter-drains) within the field and increases the cost of maintaining the ditch system. A field experiment was conductedin the spring of 2002 to determine the effectiveness of Polyacrylamide (PAM) in reducing soil erosion from quarter-drainsin fields planted to sugarcane. Eroded quarter-drain depth and soil loss per meter were measured after six rainfall eventsthat occurred between 28 March and 1 July and produced a total cumulative rainfall of 368 mm. In March 2002 PAM wassprayed as an aqueous solution directly on newly installed quarter-drains at a rate of 18 kg ha-1. The relative depth of erosionwas measured after each storm event using plastic rulers, which were inserted into the bottom of quarter-drains using acustom made tool. When applied directly to the primary quarter-drains, PAM significantly reduced erosion depth by 76%compared with the no-PAM application. PAM was most effective for the first three storm events (cumulative rainfall depthof 161 mm) with an average 88% reduction in soil depth loss. Based on one year of study in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, PAMsprayed as an aqueous solution in a single application was effective in reducing soil erosion for the quarter-drain systemsduring the 4-month period after PAM application under normal Southern Louisiana weather condition. For soil with anaverage bulk density of 1500 kg m-3, the average reduction in soil loss for PAM treated quarter-drain was 0.65 kg m-1 of theprimary quarter-drain for six events. At transition points between primary and secondary quarter-drains where PAM wasnot applied, a gradual deterioration of the side walls of the quarter-drain was visible. The original shape of semicircularquarter-drains was preserved through six consecutive storms events for plots treated with PAM.
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