Source: TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES ON CROP, PASTURE AND GRAZING LANDS UNDER CHANGING CLIMATE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1012775
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Apr 19, 2017
Project End Date
Apr 12, 2022
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
750 AGRONOMY RD STE 2701
COLLEGE STATION,TX 77843-0001
Performing Department
Chillicothe-vernon TAMU Ag Res Cntr
Non Technical Summary
Water is an important natural resource that has multiple uses in various sectors such as agricultural, municipal, manufacturing, livestock, mining and energy. The demand for water is increasing while available water resources are declining in many parts of the world. The projected changes in future climate in majority of semi-arid and arid regions of the world further add to this imbalance. In addition, the increasing demand for land for biofuel production in the United States (US) has led to an increased competition for productive agricultural land, shifts in land use among different crops, and conversion of land from other uses into biofuel production. These biofuel-induced land use changes can have significant effect on hydrology, and soil and water quality at the field and watershed scales. In addition, rangeland management practices such as grazing and brush control in vast extents of rangelands in the US Great Plains can significantly impact water catchment functions and watershed health. Efficient utilization of precious water resources is therefore important for meeting various agricultural and non-agricultural needs. The efficiency in water use lies not only in meeting these requirements, but also in maintaining quality such that the current and future generations benefit. Irrigated agriculture is the greatest consumer of water in Texas and many parts of the world. Although the water demand for irrigation in Texas is projected to decrease in the future due to adoption of improved methods, water demand in municipal, manufacturing and energy sectors is expected to increase tremendously. Extensive use of groundwater for irrigation in the Texas High Plains region caused rapid decline in groundwater levels in the underlying Ogallala Aquifer. Groundwater Conservation Districts in this region have started imposing limits on annual allowable groundwater pumping rates. There are also increasing concerns about the water quality impairment of rivers, streams, lakes and aquifers in Texas due to agricultural activities. Therefore, there is a need to develop and implement strategies for conserving water, increasing water use efficiency and improving water quality on crop, pasture and grazing lands in order to prolong the availability of water for agriculture and meet increasing demands in other sectors. The hydrologic and water quality models such as SWAT and APEX, and cropping system models such as DSSAT, together with reliable field measurements will be used in this project to assess the long-term impacts of changes in land use, land use management and climate, and suggest best management practices for improving soil and water quality, and efficient utilization of water resources on crop, pasture and grazing lands.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1110210205050%
4050210205010%
1120320205010%
1210399107010%
1310120310010%
1320430207010%
Knowledge Area
112 - Watershed Protection and Management; 111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water; 132 - Weather and Climate; 405 - Drainage and Irrigation Systems and Facilities; 121 - Management of Range Resources; 131 - Alternative Uses of Land;

Subject Of Investigation
0120 - Land; 0320 - Watersheds; 0430 - Climate; 0210 - Water resources; 0399 - Watersheds and river basins, general;

Field Of Science
2070 - Meteorology and climatology; 2050 - Hydrology; 1070 - Ecology; 3100 - Management;
Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this research is to develop strategies that conserve water, promote water use efficiency, and protect soil and water quality in diverse agro-ecosystems under changing climate. The specific objectives are to:1) Develop strategies for efficient utilization of water resources on crop, pasture and grazing lands under current and future climate change scenarios.2) Assess the impacts of land use change, climate change and rangeland management on hydrology and environment.3) Evaluate the best management practices for protecting soil and water quality.
Project Methods
The methodology to be used for achieving the stated objectives is as follows:Objective 1 - Development of strategies for efficient utilization of water resources: Studies related to this objective will focus on suggesting strategies for increasing water use efficiency and conserving water resources on crop, pasture and grazing lands. The DSSAT CSM modules for important crops grown in Texas such as cotton, sorghum and wheat will be evaluated using the measured data (e.g. soil moisture, crop yield) collected by collaborators, and the calibrated modules will then be used to suggest various irrigation (e.g. deficit) and crop management (e.g. tillage) strategies that are aimed at reducing water use while meeting desired yield goals under the current and future climate change scenarios. Most importantly, efficient irrigation management plans that increase water use efficiency while complying with the groundwater pumping restrictions specified by the GCDs, and the climate change adaptation/mitigation strategies will be suggested. Field data on crop phenology and physiology will be collected from ongoing field experiments and used for accurately evaluating the DSSAT CSM crop modules.Field studies will also be conducted to measure soil infiltration characteristics in ongoing long-term experimental plots at our research sites to study the effects of tillage, crop rotation and cover crops on soil macroporosity, hydraulic conductivity and other hydrological properties. Additionally, grazing management practices that increase water holding capacity of soils on pasture and rangelands will be evaluated using the SWAT and APEX models.Objective 2 - Hydrologic and environmental impacts of climate and land use change, and rangeland management: Under this objective, simulation studies will be conducted to evaluate the impacts of biofuel-induced land use change from cotton to perennial grasses and biomass sorghum on hydrology and water quality (sediment and nutrient losses) of selected watersheds in the U.S. Cotton Belt region using the APEX and SWAT models. The ideal bioenergy crops for different regions of the U.S. Cotton Belt will be identified based on their biofuel production potential, and impacts on soil and water conservation and environment. In addition, methodologies for identifying/mapping suitable marginal lands for growing bioenergy crops will be developed in order to avoid the competition between food/fiber and biofuel. Furthermore, the relative advantages and disadvantages of growing bioenergy crops in comparison to traditional crops under the projected future climatic conditions will be assessed. In view of the difficulty in achieving consistent biomass production under dryland conditions, the potential for adopting other cropping rotations/options outside of bioenergy crops will also be evaluated.The ranch and watershed-scale effects of grazing management practices (heavy and light continuous grazing, and adaptive multi-paddock grazing) and brush control practices on water catchment functions, sediment and nutrient losses, and stream flow patterns will also be studied using the SWAT and APEX models, and the best management practices for different regions in the U.S. Great Plains will be suggested. Additionally, the impacts of projected future climate change on suggested best grazing management practices will be studied.For the climate change impact assessment, an ensemble of bias-corrected climate projections for the period from 2021 to 2099 will be obtained from the World Climate Research Programme's (WCRP) Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) multi-model dataset referenced in the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (http://gdo-dcp.ucllnl.org/downscaled_cmip_projections/) (Reclamation, 2013).Objective 3 - Evaluation of the best management practices for protecting soil and water quality: This objective will be addressed through a combination of field experiments and water quality modeling. Field experiments will be conducted to monitor water and nitrogen balances under various crop and fertilizer management (e.g. single vs. split application, timing of application) practices and the best practices for reducing nitrogen losses to surface and groundwater will be suggested for the TRP and THP regions. Studies will also be conducted to identify the sources of water quality impairment in the surface water bodies that are non-compliant with state standards. Water quality models such as SWAT and APEX will be used to identify the sources of surface water quality impairment in monitored watersheds; estimate nutrient/sediment loading to streams, ponds and lakes; determine the needed nutrient/sediment load reductions to achieve water quality compliance; and suggest best management practices for improving water quality. Additionally, the long-term effects of growing cover crops in traditional monoculture systems of the TRP and THP regions on improving soil and water quality will be studied using the DSSAT and APEX models.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Consumers, rural landowners, producers, groundwater managers, State and Federal agency personnel, researchers and extension workers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided training and professional development opportunities for three Postdoctoral Research Associates, JungJin Kim, Sushil Himanshu and Jasdeep Singh; two Ph.D. Students, Sayantan Samantha and Qiong Su, and one M.S. student, Rene Francis Mvuyekure of the Water Management and Hydrologic Sciences program at Texas A&M University; and one M.Eng. student, Montana Caise of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and at Texas A&M University. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results from this project have been disseminated to communities of interest through peer reviewed journal articles, two popular press articles (AgriLife Today), postings on program website, and presentations at conferences (Annual International Meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers; International Annual Meeting of the ASA-SSSA-CSSA; and Beltwide Cotton conference). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?I plan on continuing my ongoing research activities, which include: i) developing a novel sensor- and crop model-based decision support tool for efficient irrigation management, ii) evaluating the soil health benefits of cover crops in cotton production systems of the Texas Rolling Plains, iii) UAV-based monitoring of crop growth and changes in soil and vegetation conditions, iv) determination of optimum irrigation termination dates for cotton in the Texas High Plains under deficit irrigation practices, v) assessment of the impacts of grazing management on soil carbon sequestration and downstream flood risk in the northern and southern Great Plains regions, and vi) evaluation of the improvement in ecosystem services due to improved soil management. Additionally, we plan on: i) initiating the pasture cropping experiments at the study ranches to study the soil health benefits of the practice, and ii) evaluating efficient crop-growth-stage-based deficit irrigation strategies for cotton and grain sorghum production.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Research carried out under this project enhanced awareness of consumers, producers, researchers and policy makers about the potential dryland cotton yield increases with changes in soil health related factors, climate change impacts on grain sorghum production in the THP and potential adaptation strategies, and grazing management impacts on watershed hydrology and water quality through conference and regional meeting presentations, and published journal articles and popular articles. Assessed the impacts of climate change on yield and water use of grain sorghum and identified optimum climate change adaptation strategies for three study sites in the THP region. Irrigated grain sorghum yield is expected to decrease by 5-13 % and 16-27 % by mid-century and late-century, respectively under extreme (highest) emission scenario compared to the baseline/historic scenario. The irrigation water use is expected to decrease by 7-9% and 14-16 % by the mid-century and late century, respectively. Among eight grain sorghum virtual cultivars simulated for climate change adaptation in the Texas High Plains region, an ideotype with high yield potential trait (10 % higher partitioning to the panicle, radiation use efficiency, and relative leaf size than the reference cultivar) resulted in maximum grain sorghum yield gains in the future under both irrigated (6.9%-17.1 % increase) and dryland (7.5%-17.1% increase) conditions, when compared to the reference cultivar. Enhancing drought tolerance by increasing root density at different soil depths also resulted in a significantly higher irrigated grain sorghum yield than the reference cultivar. A longer maturity cultivar will likely increase irrigation water use and, therefore, is not recommended for water limited conditions. Evaluated potential dryland cotton yield increases due to changes in selected soil factors associated with soil health. Among the six scenarios considered, doubling soil drainage rate resulted in the highest increase (58%) in simulated mean dryland seed-cotton yield followed by one-inch increase in soil water holding capacity (27%) and doubling of soil albedo (16%). Combined improvements to soil drainage and albedo, and reduction in surface runoff increased mean seed-cotton yield by 86% and reduced risk to producers while increasing mean returns from dryland cotton production. These results indicated that improving soil properties through adoption of soil health promoting practices could potentially assist in sustaining cotton production in the Texas High Plains region that is transitioning from irrigated to dryland agriculture due to declining groundwater levels in the southern Ogallala Aquifer. In a grazing management impact assessment study in the Apple Watershed in North Dakota using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), adaptive multi-paddock grazing was found to be a good strategy for reducing sediment and nutrient losses from rangelands. Simulation of adaptive multi-paddock grazing on all rangelands reduced average (1981-2016) annual sediment and nutrient losses by about 62% to 74% relative to the commonly adopted heavy continuous grazing. Adoption of multi-paddock grazing on all rangelands of this 2.24 million-acre watershed could potentially reduce annual sediment, total nitrogen and total phosphorus losses from the watershed by about 7,400; 130,000; and 9,200 tons, respectively. The UAV-derived cotton phenological estimates matched well with manual measurements as indicated by an average error of 4.4% and 9.5% for cultivars FM2011 and FM2484, respectively for canopy height, and an average error of 3.2% and -11.3% for cultivars FM2011 and FM2484, respectively for open boll count estimation.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ale, S., D. R. Harmel, A.P. Nejadhashemi, K. DeJonge, S. Irmak, I. Chaubey, K.R. Douglas-Mankin. 2020. Global water security: Current research and priorities for action. Transactions of the ASABE. 63(1): 49-55. https://doi.org/10.13031/trans.13839
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, J. Bordovsky, K. Thorp, D. Porter, C. Munster, and G. Hoogenboom. 2020. Potential benefits of genotype-based adaptation strategies for grain sorghum production in the Texas High Plains under climate change. European Journal of Agronomy. Vol. 117, 126037. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2020.126037
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kikoyo, D., S. Ale, and P.K. Smith. 2020. Selective cropping as a soil conservation practice: A benefits evaluation. Transactions of the ASABE. 63(6): 1735-1746. https://doi.org/10.13031/ trans.13804.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Saadat, S., J. Frankenberger, L. Bowling, and S. Ale. 2020. Surface ponding and runoff generation in a seasonally frozen drained agricultural field. Journal of Hydrology. Vol. 588, 124985, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.124985
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Barnes, E.M., T. Campbell, G. Vellidis, W. Porter, J. Payero, B. Leib, R. Sui, D. Fisher, S. Anapalli, P. Colaizzi, J. Bordovsky, D. Porter, S. Ale, J. Mahan, S. Taghvaeian, K. Thorp. 2020. 40 years of increasing cotton water use efficiency through technology adoption and why the trend will continue. Applied Engineering in Agric. 36(4): 457-478. https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.13911
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ayankojo, I.T., K.R. Thorp, K.T. Morgan, K. Kothari, and S. Ale. 2020. Assessing the impacts of future climate on cotton production in the Arizona low desert. Transactions of the ASABE. 63(4): 1087-1098. https://doi.org/10.13031/trans.13731
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: DeLaune, P.B., P. Mubvumba, S. Ale, and E. Kimura. 2020. Impact of no-till, cover crop, and irrigation timing and capacity on cotton yield. Agricultural Water Management. Vol. 232, 106038, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106038.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Bagnall, D.K., W.M. McIntosh, C.L.S. Morgan, R.T. Woodward, M. Cisneros, Black, M., Kiella, E.M., S. Ale. 2020. Farmers insights on soil health indicators and adoption. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment. 2020; 3:e20066, https://doi.org/10.1002/ agg2.20066.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ale, S., Himanshu, S., Mauget, S., Hudson, D., Goebel, T., Liu, B., Baumhardt, R., Bordovsky, J., Brauer, D., Lascano, R. and Gitz III, D. 2020. Simulated effects of changes in selected soil physical and chemical properties associated with soil health on dryland cotton production. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Virtual Meetings, Nov. 9-13.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Himanshu, S. K., Samanta, S., Chang, A., Kim, J., Ale, S., Bordovsky, J., Jung, J. and Barnes, E. 2020. A Comparison of UAV-derived and manually-measured cotton phenological dataset under different irrigation strategies. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Virtual Meetings, Nov. 9-13.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Himanshu, S. K., Ale, S. Bordovsky, J., Kim, J., Samanta, S., Omani, N. and Barnes, E. 2020. Evaluating the effects of irrigation termination on productivity of cotton under deficit irrigation strategies. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Virtual Meetings, Nov. 9-13.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kim, J., S. Ale, W.R. Teague, and S. DelGrosso. 2020. Assessing the impacts of grazing management on soil carbon sequestration under contrasting climatic conditions in the U.S. Great Plains using SWAT. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Virtual Meetings, Nov. 9-13.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Samanta, S., S. Ale, D.K. Bagnall, C.L.S. Morgan, C.C. Molling, R.T. Woodward, W.A. McIntosh, and J.A. Howe. 2020. The role of soil structure in modeling soil management: A quantitative impact assessment. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Virtual Meetings, Nov. 9-13.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ale, S., J. Kim, J. Park, and W.R. Teague. 2020. Role of adaptive multi-paddock grazing on downstream flood mitigation and climate change adaptation. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 2001652. 13-15 July 2020, Virtual Meeting. (Invited presentation).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Himanshu, S.K., Y. Fan, S. Ale, and J.P. Bordovsky. 2020. Modeling water productivity and net returns of crop-growth-stage-based deficit irrigation strategies for cotton. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 2000609. 13-15 July 2020, Virtual Meeting.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kim, J., S. Ale, W.R. Teague, and S. DelGrosso. 2020. Impact of grazing management practices on soil carbon sequestration under contrasting climatic conditions in the U.S. Great Plains. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 2000773. 13-15 July 2020, Virtual Meeting.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Samanta, S., S. Ale, C.L.S. Morgan, D. Bagnall, R. Woodward, W.A. McIntosh, J.A. Howe, and C. Molling. 2020. Modeling the effects of changes in soil management practices on plant available soil water. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 2001339. 13-15 July 2020, Virtual Meeting.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ale, S., S.K. Himannshu, S.A. Mauget, D. Hudson, T.S. Goebel, B. Liu, R.L. Baumhardt, J.P. Bordovsky, D.K. Brauer, R.J. Lascano, and D.C. Gitz. 2020. Potential dryland cotton yield increases from management of selected soil physical and chemical properties associated with soil health. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 2001058. 13-15 July 2020, Virtual Meeting.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Himanshu, S.K., S. Samanta, A. Chang, J. Kim, S. Ale, J. Bordovsky, J. Jung, and E. Barnes. 2020. Comparative validation of UAV-collected cotton phenological dataset with manual measurements under different irrigation treatments. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 2001213. 13-15 July 2020, Virtual Meeting.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Himanshu, S.K., Y. Fan, S. Ale, and J.P. Bordovsky. 2020. Simulated crop-growth-stage-based deficit irrigation strategies for increasing water productivity and net returns. Beltwide Cotton Conferences. 8-10 January 2020. Austin, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, J.P. Bordovsky, C.L. Munster, and G. Hoogenboom. 2020. Simulating climate-change-adaptive cultivars for sustaining cotton production in the Texas High Plains. Beltwide Cotton Conferences. 8-10 January 2020. Austin, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ayankojo, I.T., K.R. Thorp, K.T. Morgan, K. Kothari, and S. Ale. 2020. Assessing the impact of future climate on cotton production in the Arizona Low Desert. Beltwide Cotton Conferences. 8-10 January 2020. Austin, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ale, S., and S. Chaudhuri. Groundwater quality and availability in Texas, USA: A spatio-temporal assessment. HYDRO-2019 International Conference. 18-20 December 2019, Hyderabad, India [Invited keynote presentation].
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ale, S., S.K. Himanshu, N. Omani, J. Bordovsky, K. Thorp, and E. Barnes. 2019. A modeling approach to determine ideal irrigation termination periods for cotton. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meetings, San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 10-13, 2019.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, A. Attia, N. Rajan, Q. Xue, and C. Munster. 2019. Winter wheat production in the Texas High Plains under changing climate: Potential impacts and adaptations. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meetings, San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 10-13, 2019.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Samanta, S., S. Ale, C.L.S. Morgan, D.K. Bagnall, R.T. Woodward, W.A. McIntosh, and J.A. Howe. 2019. Simulated impacts of soil management practices on plant available soil water. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meetings, San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 10-13, 2019.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kim, J., S. Ale, and W.R. Teague. 2019. Simulated impact of grazing management practices on sediment and nutrient losses, and soil carbon sequestration. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meetings, San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 10-13, 2019.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Morgan, C.L.S., D.K. Bagnall, S. Samanta, R.T. Woodward, W.A. McIntosh, S. Ale, and J.A. Howe. 2019. Linking soil structure to adoption of soil health promoting practices in vertisols. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meetings, San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 10-13, 2019. [Invited presentation]
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Bagnall, D.K., C.L.S. Morgan, R.T. Woodward, Wm. A. McIntosh, S. Ale, M. Black, S. Samanta. 2019. Investigating Soil Health and Stakeholder Motivations in the Texas Blackland Prairies. Soil Health Institute Annual Meeting.
  • Type: Other Status: Submitted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ale, S., Bordovsky, J., Thorp, K., Omani, N., and Himanshu, S.K. 2020. Determining optimum irrigation termination periods for cotton production in the Texas High Plains using the DSSAT Cropping System Model. Annual Project Report submitted to the Cotton Incorporated. January 2020.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Ledbetter, K., and S. Ale. 2020. New app development could aid crop irrigation management. AgriLife Today. February 12, 2020.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Coulloudon, L., S. Ale, S. Himanshu, and J. Bordovsky. 2019. Study suggests growth-stage-based irrigation strategies for high-yielding cotton. AgriLife Today. November 18, 2019.


Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Consumers, rural landowners, producers, groundwater managers, State and Federal agency personnel, researchers and extension workers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided training and professional development opportunities for two Postdoctoral Research Associates, Jongyoon Park and Sushil Himanshu; two Ph.D. Students, Kritika Kothari of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and Sayantan Samantha of the Water Management and Hydrologic Sciences program at Texas A&M University. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results from this project have been disseminated to communities of interest through peer reviewed journal articles, a popular press article (AgriLife Today), postings on program website, and presentations at conferences (Annual International Meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers; US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship; and Beltwide Cotton conference). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?I plan on continuing my ongoing research activities, which include: i) UAV-based monitoring of crop growth and changes in soil and vegetation conditions, ii) assessment of potential yield increases through management of soil hydrologic processes in semi-arid rain fed systems, iii) determination of optimum irrigation termination dates for cotton in the Texas High Plains under deficit irrigation practices, iv) assessment of climate change impacts and evaluation of climate change adaptation strategies for cotton and corn in the Texas High Plains region, v) assessment of the impacts of grazing management on soil carbon sequestration and downstream flood risk in the northern and southern Great Plains regions, and vi) evaluation of the improvement in ecosystem services due to improved soil management. Additionally, we plan on i) evaluating the soil health benefits of winter wheat cover crop in cotton production systems in the Texas Rolling Plains, and ii) developing a novel sensor- and crop model-based decision support tool for efficient irrigation management.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Research carried out under this project enhanced awareness of consumers, producers, researchers and policy makers about the ideal periods for terminating irrigation for cotton in the Texas High Plains (THP), crop-growth-stage-based deficit irrigation strategies, climate change impacts on grain sorghum and winter wheat production in the THP and potential adaptation strategies, and grazing management impacts on watershed hydrology and water quality through conference and regional meeting presentations, and published journal articles and popular articles. Suggested optimum irrigation termination periods for cotton production in the THP region based on a long-term simulation study using the DSSAT-CSM-CROPGRO-Cotton model. In normal-rainfall years, the first and second weeks of September (118 and 125 days after planting, respectively) were identified as ideal irrigation termination periods for cotton under full and deficit irrigation, respectively. Terminating irrigation during these periods resulted in a higher irrigation water use efficiency while maintaining higher crop yields. Compared to normal-rainfall years, ideal irrigation termination periods were found to be a week earlier in wet years and a week later in dry years. Assessed the impacts of climate change on grain sorghum production in the Texas High Plains using the DSSAT-CSM-CERES-Sorghum model. The 20% irrigation deficit strategy was found to be an ideal irrigation strategy under both current and future climatic conditions in the THP. That strategy resulted in a substantially higher water-use-efficiency than full irrigation with only a minor (<11%) yield loss. In addition, irrigating during the early reproductive stages resulted in the most efficient use of limited water for grain sorghum production. Assessed the impacts of climate change on winter wheat production in the THP region using the DSSAT-CSM-CERES-Wheat model. The results showed that winter wheat production in the THP could benefit from CC under milder climatic conditions (mean growing season temperature <13 °C). While mixed trends were found for irrigated yield in the future across the study sites due to differences in climate and soils, dryland yield is expected to increase due to improved crop water use efficiency. Among the winter wheat virtual cultivars tested for climate change adaptation, increasing potential number of grains and vigorous root system were found to be the most desirable traits. Long maturity and stay-green cultivars were found to be not advisable due to significantly higher irrigation water use than the reference cultivar. In another DSSAT Cotton simulation study at Lubbock in the THP, among four separate irrigation scheduling strategies --Time Temperature Threshold (TTT)-5.5 h, TTT-7.5 h, Daily Irrigation, and percent ET replacement -- the 12 mm, 7.5 h TTT strategy was found to be the best strategy to achieve a maximized seed cotton yield with the greatest irrigation water use efficiency. Suggested crop-growth-stage-based deficit irrigation management strategies for achieving higher seed cotton yield and conserving precious irrigation water resources from the Ogallala Aquifer in the THP region. Cotton peak bloom growth stage was found to be the most sensitive stage to water stress. In contrast, water stress during early growth stages of germination, seedling emergence and squaring, and final growth stages of cutout, late bloom and boll opening had little effect on seed cotton yield. In a grazing management impact assessment study in the Lower Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River Watershed in Texas using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), simulation of adaptive multi-paddock grazing on all rangelands in the watershed decreased average (1981-2016) annual surface runoff by 46%; streamflow by 23%; and reduced sediment and nutrient losses by about 20 to 38% relative to HC grazing. Adaptive multi-paddock grazing was therefore found to be a good strategy for conserving water, retaining nutrients and reducing flood risk.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Himanshu, S.K., S. Ale, J.P. Bordovsky, and M. Darapuneni. 2019. Evaluation of crop-growth-stage-based deficit irrigation strategies for cotton production in the Southern High Plains. Agricultural Water Management Special Issue on Managing the Ogallala. Vol. 225, 105782 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2019.105782.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, A. Attia, N. Rajan, Q. Xue, and C. Munster. 2019. Potential climate change adaptation strategies for winter wheat production in the Texas High Plains. Agricultural Water Management Special Issue on Managing the Ogallala. Vol. 225, 105764 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat. 2019.105764
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Garibay, V.M., K. Kothari, S. Ale, D.C. Gitz III, G.D. Morgan, and C.L. Munster. 2019. Determining water-use-efficient irrigation strategies for cotton using the DSSAT CSM CROPGRO-Cotton model evaluated with in-season data. Agricultural Water management Special Issue on Managing the Ogallala. Vol. 223, 105695 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2019.105695.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, J. Bordovsky, K. Thorp, D. Porter, and C. Munster. 2019. Simulation of efficient irrigation management strategies for grain sorghum production over different climate variability classes. Agricultural Systems. 170: 49-62.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Darapuneni, M. K., O.J. Idowu, L.M. Lauriault, S.K. Dodla, K. Pavuluri, S. Ale, K. Grover, and S. Angadi. 2019. Tillage and nitrogen rate effects on corn production and residual soil characteristics. Agronomy Journal. 111(3): 1-9. doi:10.2134/agronj 2018.09.0582
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Sharma, S., N. Rajan, S. Cui, S. Maas, K. Casey, S. Ale. and R. Jessup,. 2019. Carbon and evapotranspiration dynamics of a non-native perennial grass with biofuel potential in the Southern U.S. Great Plains. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 269-270: 285-293.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, J.P. Bordovsky, and C.L. Munster. 2019. Assessing the climate change impacts on grain sorghum yield and irrigation water use under full and deficit irrigation strategies. Transactions of the ASABE Special collection on Global Water Security. Accepted. https://doi.org/10.13031/trans.13465
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ale, S., N. Omani, S.K. Himanshu, J.P. Bordovsky, K.R. Thorp, and E.M. Barnes. 2019. Determining optimum irrigation termination periods for cotton production in the Texas High Plains. Transactions of the ASABE Special collection on Global Water Security. Accepted. https://doi.org/10.13031/trans.13483 [Invited Paper]
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Harmel, R.D., I. Chaubey, S. Ale, A.P. Nejadhashemi, S. Irmak, K. DeJonge, S. Evett, E.M. Barnes, M. Catley-Carlson, S. Hunt, and I. Mani. 2019. Perspectives on Global Water Security. Transactions of the ASABE Special collection on Global Water Security. Accepted. https://doi.org/10.13031/trans.13524 [Invited Paper]
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Mauget, S., G. Marek, P. Adhikari, G. Leikar, J. Mahan, P. Payton, and S. Ale. 2019. Optimizing dryland crop management to regional climate. Part I: U.S. Southern High Plains cotton production. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. Accepted. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2019.00120
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Mauget, S., K. Kothari, G. Leikar, Y. Emendack, Z. Xin, C. Hayes, S. Ale, and L. Baumhardt. 2019. Optimizing dryland crop management to regional climate. Part II: U.S. Southern High Plains sorghum production. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. Accepted. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2019.00119
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ale, S., D. R. Harmel, A.P. Nejadhashemi, K. DeJonge, S. Irmak, I. Chaubey, K.R. Douglas-Mankin. 2019. Global water security: Current research and priorities for action. Transactions of the ASABE. Under Review.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, J. Bordovsky, K. Thorp, D. Porter, C. Munster, and G. Hoogenboom. 2019. Potential benefits of genotype-based adaptation strategies for grain sorghum production in the Texas High Plains under climate change. European Journal of Agronomy. Under Review.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kikoyo, D., R. Wurbs, P. Smith, and S. Ale. 2019. Optional reservoir operating policies for Lake Victoria in East Africa: A framework for balancing transboundary and local water demands. Water International. Under Review.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: DeLaune, P.B., P. Mubvumba, E. Kimura, and S. Ale. 2019. Impact of no-till, cover crop, and irrigation timing and capacity on cotton yield. Agricultural Water Management. Under Review.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Saadat, S., J. Frankenberger, L. Bowling, and S. Ale. 2019. Surface ponding and runoff generation in a seasonally frozen drained agricultural field. Journal of Hydrology. Under Review.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Bagnall, D.K., W.M. McIntosh, C.L.S. Morgan, R.T. Woodward, M. Cisneros, Black, M., Kiella, E.M., S. Ale. 2019. Common Ground: Developing meaningful, measurable indicators of soil health. Soil Science Society of America Journal. Under Review.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ayankojo, I.T., K.R. Thorp, K.T. Morgan, K. Kothari, and S. Ale. 2019. Assessing the impacts of future climate on cotton production in the Arizona low desert. Transactions of the ASABE. Under Review.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kikoyo, D., P. Smith, and S. Ale. 2019. Selective cropping as a soil conservation practice: A benefits evaluation. Transactions of the ASABE. Under Review.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ale, S., J. Kim, W.R. Teague, and T. Wang. 2019. Simulated watershed-scale impacts of grazing management practices on streamflow characteristics and downstream flooding. Americas Grasslands Conference. 20-22 August 2019. Bismarck, ND.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ale, S., S.K. Himanshu, N. Omani, J.P. Bordovsky, K.R. Thorp, and E.M. Barnes. 2019. Determining ideal irrigation termination dates under deficit irrigation strategies. Beltwide Cotton Conferences. 8-10 January 2019. New Orleans, LA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Himanshu, S.K., S. Ale, J.P. Bordovsky, and E.M. Barnes. 2019. Assessment of deficit irrigation strategies for cotton production in the Texas High Plains. Beltwide Cotton Conferences. 8-10 January 2019. New Orleans, LA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ale, S., R.B. Movva, Y.R. Kaluvai, and V.S. Tammineedi. 2019. Managing irrigation-induced salinity and waterlogging for achieving water and food security  Experiences from Andhra Pradesh, India. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 1901948. 7-10 July 2019, Boston, MA. (Invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ale, S., J. Kim, and W.R. Teague. 2019. Influences of climate and soil properties on hydrologic function and soil carbon sequestration under different grazing management practices. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 1901337. 7-10 July 2019, Boston, MA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Himanshu, K., S. Ale, J.P. Bordovsky, and M.K. Darapuneni. 2019. Evaluation of deficit irrigation scheduling strategies for cotton to cope with declining water availability in the Southern High Plains. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 1900798. 7-10 July 2019, Boston, MA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Himanshu, K., S. Ale, N. Omani, J.P. Bordovsky, K.R. Thorp, and E.M. Barnes. 2019. Evaluation of irrigation termination effects on cotton yield and water use efficiency under deficit irrigation strategies in the Texas High Plains. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 1900799. 7-10 July 2019, Boston, MA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, J.P. Bordovsky, C.L. Munster, and G. Hoogenboom. 2019. Potential climate change adaptation strategies for cotton production in the Texas High Plains. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 1900648. 7-10 July 2019, Boston, MA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kim, J., S. Ale, and R. Teague. 2019. Responses of streamflow, water quality, and soil carbon sequestration under alternative grazing management practices in a cold climate region. US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship. 14-16 August 2019, Rosemont, IL.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ale, S., S. Himanshu, N. Omani, J. Bordovsky, K. Thorp and E. Barnes. 2018. Simulated strategies for efficient use of irrigation water for cotton production in the Texas High Plains. Global Water Security Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources. 3-6 October 2018, Hyderabad, India.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, J. Bordovsky, K. Thorp, D. Porter, G. Hoogenboom and C. Munster. 2018. Simulation of water-use-efficient irrigation strategies and climate-change-adaptation scenarios for grain sorghum production in the Texas High Plains. Global Water Security Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources. 3-6 October 2018, Hyderabad, India.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Jha, R., A. Pandey and S. Ale. 2018. Performance evaluation of canal irrigation system. Global Water Security Conference for Agriculture and Natural Resources. 3-6 October 2018, Hyderabad, India.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ledbetter, K., and S. Ale. 2019. Grain sorghum irrigation water-use efficiency dependent on weather conditions. AgriLife Today. January 29, 2019.


Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Consumers, rural landowners, producers, groundwater managers, State and Federal agency personnel, researchers and extension workers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided training and professional development opportunities for a Postdoctoral Research Associate, Jongyoon Park; two Ph.D. Students, Kritika Kothari of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and Sayantan Samantha of the Water Management and Hydrologic Sciences program at Texas A&M University; and two MS students, Victoria Garibay and Abhinav Kandpal of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results from this project have been disseminated to communities of interest through peer reviewed journal articles, a popular press article (AgriLife Today), postings on program website, and presentations at conferences (Annual International Meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship, Fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, Beltwide Cotton conference, Irrigation Association Technical Conference). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In addition to continuing my ongoing research activities, I plan on expanding my research program into several areas such as i) UAV-based monitoring of crop growth and changes in soil and vegetation conditions due to changes in crop, tillage, irrigation and grazing management for better parameterization and evaluation of crop and hydrologic models, ii) assessment of potential yield increases through management of soil hydrologic processes in semi-arid rain fed systems, iii) determination of optimum irrigation termination dates for cotton in the Texas High Plains under deficit irrigation practices, iv) determination of ideal periods for cotton irrigation and limited water availability, v) assessment of climate change impacts and evaluation of climate change adaptation strategies for grain sorghum, cotton, winter wheat and corn in the Texas High Plains region, vi) assessment of the impacts of grazing management on soil carbon sequestration and downstream flood risk, and vii) evaluation of the improvement in ecosystem services due to improved soil management.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Research carried out under this project enhanced awareness of consumers, producers, researchers and policy makers about the ideal periods for terminating irrigation for cotton in the Texas High Plains and terminating winter wheat cover crop in cotton production systems of the Texas Rolling Plains, climate change impacts on grain sorghum production in the Texas High Plains and potential adaptation strategies, and grazing management impacts on watershed hydrology and downstream flood risk through conference and regional meeting presentations, and published journal articles and popular articles. A long-term (1977-2016) simulation study using the DSSAT CROPGRO-Cotton model indicated that the optimum irrigation termination period for achieving high water use efficiency for cotton in the Texas High Plains region in years with normal rainfall during the crop growing season is the last week of August and the middle of September under full and deficit irrigation conditions, respectively. In dry years with inadequate rainfall during the growing season, it would be essential to extend irrigation by a couple of weeks to maximize water use efficiency. First week of April was found to be ideal for terminating winter wheat in cotton production systems of the Texas Rolling Plains in order to minimize cotton yield loss under both irrigated and dryland conditions, in another simulation study using the DSSAT CROPGRO-Cotton. Weather conditions were found to play a key role in selecting appropriate irrigation management strategies for grain sorghum in a long-term (1977-2016) simulation study at Halfway in the Texas High Plains using the DSSAT CERES-Sorghum model. Under normal/cold/wet weather during the growing season, i) an initial soil moisture at planting (ISM) of 75% available water holding capacity (AWC), ii) a threshold for initiating irrigation (ITH) of 50% AWC, and iii) a deficit irrigation strategy (DFI) of replacing 85% of plant evapotranspiration were found to be adequate for irrigated grain sorghum production. However, in warm/dry weather, ISM of 75%, ITH 60%, and DFI at 100% were found to be good for reducing sorghum yield loss. Simulated irrigated and dryland grain sorghum yield and irrigation water use were projected to decrease at varying percentages in the future at three study sites in the Texas High Plains including Bushland, Halfway and Lamesa. For example, simulated irrigated grain sorghum yield decreased significantly by 7% in the mid-century (2036-2065) and 20% in the late-century (2066-2095), compared to the historic period (1976-2005) under high emissions scenario at Halfway. At this site, simulated irrigation water use reduced by 7% in the mid-century and 14% in the late-century. Dryland grain sorghum yield was also projected to reduce significantly under high emissions scenario at Halfway by 14% in the mid-century and 27% in the late-century when compared to the historic period. Among the adaptation strategies studied, virtual cultivar with high yield potential trait resulted in maximum grain sorghum yield gains in the future at Bushland, Halfway and Lamesa in the Texas High Plains under both irrigated (6.9%-19.3%) and dryland (7.5%-17.1%) conditions, when compared to the baseline cultivar. Enhancing drought tolerance by increasing root density at different soil depths and adopting longer maturity cultivar have also resulted in a significantly higher irrigated grain sorghum yield than the baseline cultivar. However, irrigation water use of long maturity cultivar was significantly higher than the baseline cultivar. The results from this study suggest that increasing yield potential traits and root density were the optimum climate change adaptation strategies for irrigated and dryland grain sorghum production in the Texas High Plains. In a grazing management impact assessment study in the Lower Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River Watershed in Texas using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), simulation of adaptive multi-paddock (MP) grazing on all rangelands in the watershed decreased average (1981-2016) annual surface runoff by 58%; streamflow by 40%; and reduced Richard-Baker (R-B) Index, an indicator of stream flashiness by 29.6%, and increased Baseflow Index (BI) by 88.2% relative to HC grazing. Adaptive MP grazing was therefore found to be a good strategy for conserving water, protecting soil and reducing flood risk.

Publications

  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ale, S., P.V. Femeena, S. Mehan, and R. Cibin. 2018. Environmental impacts of bioenergy crop production and benefits of multifunctional bioenergy systems. In: Pires, J.C., and Goncalves, A.L. (Eds.) Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. Elsevier Publishing. Accepted.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Chen, Y., S. Ale, and N. Rajan. 2018. Implications of Biofuel-Induced Changes in Land Use and Crop Management on Sustainability of Agriculture in the Texas High Plains. Biomass and Bioenergy. 111: 13-21. doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2018.01.012
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Adhikari, P., N. Omani, S. Ale, P.B. DeLaune, K. R. Thorp, E.M. Barnes, and G. Hoogenboom. 2017. Simulated effects of winter wheat cover crop on cotton production systems of the Texas Rolling Plains. Transactions of ASABE. 60(6): 2083-2096. doi.org/10.13031/trans.12272
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Chen, Y., S. Ale, N. Rajan, and R. Srinivasan. 2017. Modeling the effects of land use change from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) to perennial bioenergy grasses on watershed hydrology and water quality under changing climate. Agricultural Water Management.192: 198-208. doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2017.07.011
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Bordovsky, J.P., B. Stoker, P. Bilnoski, C. Garcia, D. Porter, S. Ale, K. Biggers, and J. Wall. Dashboard for irrigation efficiency management (DIEM). Proceedings of the 2017 Irrigation Association Technical Conference, Orlando, Florida, November 6-10, 2017.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, J.P. Bordovsky, G. Hoogenboom and C.L. Munster. 2017. Assessment of climate change impacts and evaluation of adaptation strategies for grain sorghum and cotton production in the Texas High Plains. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. 11-15 December, New Orleans, LA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: DeLaune, P., P. Mubvumba, S. Ale and E. Kimura. 2018. Effect of irrigation timing and conservation tillage on cotton production. Beltwide Cotton Conferences. 3-5 January 2018. San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ale, S., N. Omani, S. Himanshu, and P. DeLaune. 2018. Effect of winter wheat cover crop termination date on soil water availability and yield of cotton in the Texas Rolling Plains. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 1801053. St. Joseph, MI: ASABE.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, J.P. Bordovsky, and C.L. Munster. 2018. Assessing the impacts of climate change on seasonal irrigation and water use efficiency of grain sorghum and cotton in the Texas High Plains. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 1800681. St. Joseph, MI: ASABE.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kim, J., S. Ale, and R. Teague. 2018. Impact of grazing management practices on water catchment functions and soil carbon sequestration. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 1800265. St. Joseph, MI: ASABE.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kim, J., S. Ale, and R. Teague. 2018. Simulated impacts of grazing management practices on hydrologic components, streamflow pattern, and water quality. US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship. 1-4 August, Queens, NY.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ale, S., N. Omani, J.P. Bodovsky, P. Adhikari, and K. R. Thorp. 2018. Water use efficiency and cotton yield as affected by irrigation termination dates. Beltwide Cotton Conferences. 3-5 January 2018. San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ledbetter, K., and S. Ale. 2017. Winter wheat feasible cover crop for Rolling Plains cotton. AgriLife Today. November 27, 2017.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ale, S., Bordovsky, J., Thorp, K. and Omani, N. 2018. Determining optimum irrigation termination periods for cotton production in the Texas High Plains using the DSSAT Cropping System Model. Final Project Report submitted to the Cotton Incorporated. January 2018.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, S., N. Rajan, K. Casey, S. Ale., R. Jessup, S. Cui, and S. Maas. 2018. Carbon and evapotranspiration dynamics of a non-native perennial grass with biofuel potential in the Southern U.S. Great Plains. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. In Review.


Progress 04/19/17 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:General public, rural landowners, producers, groundwater managers, State and Federal agency personnel, researchers and extension workers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided training and professional development opportunities for two Postdoctoral Research Associates, Nina Omani and Jongyoon Park; two Ph.D. Students, Kritika Kothari of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and Yong Chen of the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University; and two MS students, Victoria Garibay and Abhinav Kandpal of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results from this project have been disseminated to communities of interest through peer reviewed journal articles, popular press articles (AgriLife Today), interviews, postings on program website, and presentations at conferences (Annual International Meetings of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and American Society of Agronomy; Fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union; Beltwide Cotton conferences). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In addition to continuing my ongoing research activities, I plan on expanding my research program into several areas such as i) determining optimum irrigation termination dates for cotton in the Texas High Plains, ii) determining ideal termination dates for winter wheat cover crop in cotton production systems of the Texas Rolling Plains, iii) assessing climate change impacts on grain sorghum production in the Texas High Plains region, iv) assessing the impacts of grazing management on soil carbon sequestration, and v) developing a methodology for evaluating the improvement in ecosystem services due to improved soil management.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Research carried out under this project enhanced awareness of public, producers, researchers and policy makers about the effects of biofuel-induced land use change under the current and projected future climatic conditions; grazing management impacts on hydrology and water quality; and the effects of winter wheat cover crop on soil water availability for, and yield of subsequent cover crop in the Texas Rolling Plains through conference and regional meeting presentations, and published journal articles and popular articles. An assessment of the impacts of land use change from cotton to perennial bioenergy grasses under the current and future climate scenarios in the Double Mountain Fork Brazos watershed in the Texas High Plains using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) indicated that the median irrigation water use of cotton would decrease by 41%-61% in the future (during the middle (2040-2069) and end (2070-2099) of the 21st century) when compared to historic (1994-2009) period based on CMIP5 climate projections of 19 GCMs under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios. Under the future climate change scenarios, when compared to cotton, median annual irrigation water use by switchgrass reduced by 62%-89%. Simulated future median total nitrogen load decreased by 30%-40% under perennial grasses when compared to future cotton land use. The median irrigated switchgrass yield decreased by 16%-28%, but the median dryland Miscanthus yield increased by 32%-38% under the future climate change scenarios. Growing of winter wheat as a cover crop after harvesting cotton and/or changing land use from cotton to perennial bioenergy crops were found to be good strategies for addressing the challenges being faced by the Texas High Plains region such as the declining/deteriorating groundwater levels/quality and wind erosion, in addition to assisting in meeting the national biofuel target. Using the Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model, when winter wheat was simulated as a cover crop in the cotton production systems of the Double Mountain Fork Brazos watershed, average annual wind erosion, total nitrogen (TN) loss to surface water and nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) leaching to groundwater reduced by more than 37%, 43% and 73%, respectively, under the 457 mm (18-inch) annual groundwater pumping limit setup by the High Plains Water District. In addition, winter wheat produced about 0.20 to 0.26 kg m-2 of biomass for biofuel purposes. Land use change from irrigated cotton to switchgrass and rainfed cotton to Miscanthus decreased the TN load, NO3-N leaching and soil loss by wind erosion by > 89% relative to the baseline. Under the groundwater pumping restrictions, multiple harvests of perennial grasses were found to be better in terms of biomass production (> 2 kg m-2), and protection of groundwater and soil. Winter wheat was found to be a feasible cover crop for the Texas Rolling Plains cotton production systems as well. In a simulation study using the CROPGRO-Cotton and CERES-Wheat modules in the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) model, no substantial differences in average change in soil water and cotton yields were found between the "cotton with winter wheat cover crop" and "cotton without winter wheat cover crop" treatments under both irrigated and dryland conditions. Adaptive multi-paddock (MP) grazing was found to be an effective conservation practice on grazing lands for enhancing water conservation and protecting water quality. In a grazing management impact study in the Clear Creek watershed with 71% rangelands in north central Texas using the APEX model, when the grazing management was changed from the baseline heavy continuous (HC) grazing to the MP grazing, the simulated average (1980-2013) annual surface runoff, sediment, total nitrogen and total phosphorous losses from the watershed reduced by 39%, 34%, 33% and 31%, respectively. In addition, implementation of adaptive MP grazing in the watershed reduced streamflow during the high flow conditions that have ≤ 10% exceedance probability, by about 20%, and hence reduced the chances of flooding downstream of the watershed.

Publications

  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Sands, G.R., S. Ale, L.E. Christianson, and N. Utt. 2017. Subsurface (tile) agricultural drainage. In: Hazlett, R., Bogucki, P., Huertos, M.L., Nemes, A., and Provenzano, G. (Eds.) Oxford Encyclopedia of Agriculture and the Environment. Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.270.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Adhikari, P., N. Omani, S. Ale, P.B. DeLaune, K. R. Thorp, E.M. Barnes, and G. Hoogenboom. 2017. Simulated effects of winter wheat cover crop on cotton production systems of the Texas Rolling Plains. Transactions of ASABE. 60(6):2083-2096.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Chen, Y., S. Ale, N. Rajan, and R. Srinivasan. 2017. Modeling the effects of land use change from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) to perennial bioenergy grasses on watershed hydrology and water quality under changing climate. Agricultural Water Management.192: 198-208.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Park, J., S. Ale, and W.R. Teague. 2017. Simulated water quality effects of alternate grazing management practices at the ranch and watershed scales. Ecological Modeling. 360: 1-13.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Loy, S., J. Tahtouh, C. Munster, K. Wagner, A. Fares, S. Ale, R. Vierling, F. Jaber, and A. Jantrania. 2017. State of the art of water for food within the nexus framework. Topical collection on nexus of food, water, energy. Current Sustainable Renewable Energy Reports. 4(3):130-136.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Sharma, S., N. Rajan, S. Cui, K. Casey, S. Ale., R. Jessup, and S. Maas. 2017. Seasonal variability of evapotranspiration and carbon exchanges over a biomass sorghum field in the Southern U.S. Great Plains. Biomass and Bioenergy. 105: 392-401.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Mauget, S., P. Adhikari, G. Leikar, L. Baumhardt, K. R. Thorp and S. Ale. 2017. Modeling the Effects of Management and Elevation on West Texas Dryland Cotton Production. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 247: 385-398.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2017 Citation: Chen, Y., S. Ale, and N. Rajan. 2017. Implications of Biofuel-Induced Changes in Land Use and Crop Management on Sustainability of Agriculture in the Texas High Plains. Biomass and Bioenergy. In Review.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Chen, Y., S. Ale, N. Rajan, and C.L. Munster. 2017. Assessing the hydrologic and water quality impacts of biofuel-induced changes in land use and management. Global Change Biology - Bioenergy. 9(9): 1461-1475.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Park, J., S. Ale, W.R. Teague, and J. Jeong. 2017. Evaluating the ranch and watershed scale impacts of using traditional and adaptive multi-paddock grazing on runoff, sediment, and nutrient losses in North Texas. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 240: 32-44.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ale, S., J. Park, J., and W.R. Teague. 2017. Simulated impacts of grazing management on restoration of key ecosystem services. Americas Grasslands Conference. 14-16 November 2017. Fort Worth, TX. (Invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ale, S., P. Adhikari, N. Omani, P.B. DeLaune, K.R. Thorp and E.M. Barnes. 2017. Simulated effects of winter wheat cover crop on soil water balances, soil quality and yield of subsequent cotton crop. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 1701253. St. Joseph, MI: ASABE.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, J.P. Bordovsky, K.R. Thorp, D.O. Porter and C.L. Munster. 2017. Assessing the impacts of historic and future climate variability on grain sorghum production in the Texas High Plains. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 1701403. St. Joseph, MI: ASABE.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Garibay, V., S. Ale, D. Gitz and C.L. Munster. 2017. Evaluation of the DSSAT CSM CROPGRO-Cotton module for the Texas High Plains using in-season data. ASABE Annual Meeting Paper No. 1700755. St. Joseph, MI: ASABE. (Garibay received a travel grant)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ale, S., P. Adhikari, P.B. DeLaune, K. R. Thorp and E.M. Barnes. 2017. Determining ideal winter wheat cover crop termination dates in cotton production systems of the Texas Rolling Plains. Beltwide Cotton Conferences. 4-6 January 2017. Dallas, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Sharma, S., N. Rajan, K. Casey, S. Ale, R.W. Jessup and S. Maas. 2017. Inter-annual carbon, water and energy exchange of irrigated and dryland cotton in the Texas High Plains. Beltwide Cotton Conferences. 4-6 January 2017. Dallas, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ale, S., Y. Chen and N. Rajan. 2016. Implications of Biofuel-Induced Land Use Change and Management on Irrigated Agriculture in the Texas High Plains. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. 14-18 December, San Francisco, CA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Chen, Y., S. Ale, and N. Rajan. 2016. Modeling the effects of land use change from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) to perennial bioenergy grasses on watershed hydrology and water quality under changing climate. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA 2016 Annual Meetings, November 6-9, Phoenix, AZ.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Chen, Y., N. Rajan, S. Sharma, and S. Ale. 2016. Using eddy covariance data for calibrating hydrology model for assessing land use change implications. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA 2016 Annual Meetings, November 6-9, Phoenix, AZ.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ledbetter, K., S. Ale, and W. R. Teague. 2017. Runoff reduced, water retention increased by multi-paddock grazing. AgriLife Today. March 9, 2017.
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Rajan, N., Maas, S., Ale, S. and Casey, K. Impacts of biofuel induced land use change on energy, water, carbon and greenhouse gas balances of the Southwestern U.S. Cotton Belt region. Final Project Report submitted to USDA-NIFA. September 2017.
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Bordovsky, J., Wall, J., Porter, D., Biggers, K. and S. Ale. 2017. Development, Deployment, and Demonstration of the Dashboard for Irrigation Efficiency Management (DIEM). Final Project Report submitted to the Texas A&M Water Seed Grant program. September 2017.
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ale, S., DeLaune, P.B., Thorp, K. and Adhikari, P. 2017. Evaluating the feasibility of cover crops in the Texas Rolling Plains cotton production systems using the DSSAT Cropping System Model. Final Project Report submitted to the Cotton Incorporated. January 2017.