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Effect of controlled irrigation and drainage on nitrogen leaching losses from paddy fields

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Abstract

The effect of controlled irrigation and drainage on N leaching losses from paddy fields was investigated by controlling root zone soil water content and water table depth using a lysimeter equipped with an automatic water table control system. Three treatments that combined irrigation and drainage managements were implemented: controlled irrigation (CI) + controlled water table depth 1 (CWT1), CI + controlled water table depth 2 (CWT2), and flooding irrigation (FI) + actual field water table depth (FWT). Controlled irrigation and drainage had significant environmental effects on the reduction of NH4 +–N and NO3 −–N leaching losses from paddy fields by decreasing water leakage. The NH4 +–N leaching losses from CI + CWT1 and CI + CWT2 were 3.68 and 4.45 kg ha−1, respectively, which significantly reduced by 59.2 and 50.7 % compared with FI + FWT (9.02 kg ha−1). The NO3 −–N leaching losses from CI + CWT1 and CI + CWT2 were 0.88 and 0.43 kg ha−1 with a significant reduction of 45.2 and 73.2 %, respectively, compared with FI + FWT (1.61 kg ha−1). The application of CI + CWT1 can be a pollution-controlled water management method of reducing N leaching losses from paddy fields.

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Acknowledgments

The research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51179049), the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (Grant No. 20110094110015), and the Fund for Creative Research of Postgraduate in Jiangsu Province (Grant No. CXZZ12-0250).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, 1st Xikang Road, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Shizhang Peng, Yupu He, Shihong Yang & Junzeng Xu

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  1. Shizhang Peng
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  2. Yupu He
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  3. Shihong Yang
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  4. Junzeng Xu
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Correspondence to Shihong Yang.

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Peng, S., He, Y., Yang, S. et al. Effect of controlled irrigation and drainage on nitrogen leaching losses from paddy fields. Paddy Water Environ 13, 303–312 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-014-0442-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-014-0442-2

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