RUNOFF AND SOIL LOSS FROM COTTON PLOTSWITH AND WITHOUT STIFF-GRASS HEDGES

Abstract

The performance of grass hedges and the effectiveness of no-till cropping systems in reducing soil loss wasevaluated on standard erosion plots. No-till cotton with grass hedges, no-till cotton without grass hedges, conventional-tillcotton with grass hedges, conventional-till cotton without grass hedges, and no-till cotton without grass hedges but with awinter wheat cover crop produced average annual soil losses of 2.2, 5.2, 12.3, 48.5, and 2.0 t/ha, respectively. The annualratio of soil loss for no-till cotton plots with grass hedges to those without hedges averaged 0.43. The annual ratio of soilloss for conventional-till plots with grass hedges to without hedges was 0.25. Averaged over all plots (with and withoutgrass hedges, but not including winter cover plots), no-till plots reduced soil loss from conventional-till plots by 88%. Notillplots without grass hedges had 57% less soil loss than conventional-till plots with grass hedges. Although grasshedges were effective in reducing soil loss on erosion plots with similar cropping practices as compared to plots withouthedges, other studies of contoured grass hedges on field-sized areas are needed to determine their applicability on largerareas with greater concentrations of runoff.