Source: KANSAS STATE UNIV submitted to NRP
IRRIGATED WATER MANAGEMENT FOR WESTERN KANSAS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1019848
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2019
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2024
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
KANSAS STATE UNIV
(N/A)
MANHATTAN,KS 66506
Performing Department
KSU NW Agriculture Research Center
Non Technical Summary
Kansas is the sixth largest US state in terms of irrigated land area with nearly 3 million acres. Most of this irrigated land area is in the western half of Kansas where irrigation contributes much to stabilizing annual incomes and ensuring prosperous rural communities. The large regional red-meat industry is dependent on a reliable supply of irrigated feedgrains. The water resource (Ogallala aquifer) is being depleted over time and new and improved irrigation systems and management strategies are needed to slow this decline and also cushion a societal change to a less intensive irrigated agriculture.Development and adaptation of new and improved center pivot irrigation and subsurface drip irrigation systems and their associated technologies will help optimize irrigation water use and minimize unnecessary withdrawals from the aquifer. These pressurized irrigation systems can uniformly apply water to crops and minimize non-beneficial use of water, such as runoff and deep drainage.Corn and grain sorghum are major feed grains in the region and are often irrigated to increase production. Efforts to manage overdrafts of the aquifer needs to focus on development of strategies to manage these irrigated crops.Other alternative crops, like cotton, have been expanding to SW Kansas in the last decade due to several factors, including the availability of herbicide tolerant and shorter season varieties, lower water demand than other crops, and the already established infrastructure in the area. In some cases, the best economic and environmental strategy will be to reduce irrigation and this strategy may be imposed by either governmental or groundwater availability constraints. In other cases, the best strategy may be to intensify irrigated crop production on a smaller land area to increase the ratio of economic product to the amount of water consumption, which is sometimes referred to as "more crop per drop".
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1021510202020%
1111510202020%
4051510202010%
1021520202010%
1111520202010%
1111640202010%
4051520202010%
1111719202010%
Knowledge Area
102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships; 111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water; 405 - Drainage and Irrigation Systems and Facilities;

Subject Of Investigation
1510 - Corn; 1520 - Grain sorghum; 1640 - Alfalfa; 1719 - Cotton, other;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering;
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this project is to develop/adapt irrigation methods and irrigation management strategies suitable for profitable and environmentally friendly agricultural production in semi-arid western Kansas.1. Improve design, operation, and management of near- and in-canopy application systems including LESA, MESA, LEPA, and MDI for row crop production. (LESA is Low Elevation Spray Application, MESA is Mid Elevation Spray Application, LEPA is Low Energy Precision Application, and MDI is Mobile Drip Irrigation)2. Improve design, operation, and management of subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) systems for crop production of major irrigated crops of Western Kansas, including corn and grain sorghum.3. Generate, augment and improve crop production functions for corn and grain sorghum and other alternative crops such alfalfa and cotton that can be used in irrigation planning and economic evaluations.4. Improve irrigation scheduling technologies for both full- and deficit-irrigated production.5. Intensify crop production for corn to improve water productivity
Project Methods
General procedures for Objectives 1 through 5.Field sites on deep silt loam soils at KSU-NWREC at Colby, Kansas and at the KSU-SWREC, Garden City, Kansas will be used to conduct field studies to accomplish these studies. Existing center pivot (CP) or lateral move sprinkler (LMS) irrigation systems along with subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) systems will be used as dictated by specific study protocols. These systems are robust and reliable and have been modified to allow for statistically replicated experimental study designs. In most, if not all of the proposed studies, soil water within the profile will be measured periodically with a neutron probe or continuous soil moisture probes to characterize water availability within the season and for determination of seasonal crop water use (i.e, the sum of seasonal change in soil water, precipitation and irrigation). In-field flux towers and nearby K-State maintained automated weather stations will be used to document weather conditions and to calculate well-watered crop evapotranspiration. Phenological growth stages, plant characteristics as well as implementation dates of cultural practices will be recorded. Hand harvesting will be conducted of representative plot samples for most if not all of the row crop field studies, but may involve research-grade plot harvesters for forage or solid seeded crops. The hand harvesting will allow for determination of the various yield components (i.e., plants/area, ears or heads/plant, seeds/ear, and seed mass) which can be used to characterize yield formation process as affected by water conditions. Crop water productivity (WP) will be calculated as the economic yield divided by the measured crop water use. Statistical procedures to evaluate and separate treatment responses will include analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, linear regression and other appropriate procedures from PC-SAS Version 9.4.Efforts to transfer the knowledge gained from the studies will focus on aforementioned methods described in the Audience Tab, specifically concentrating on internet delivery, field days and regional meetings geared to the producer level.Evaluation of impacts will concentrate on results from informal meeting participant comment and surveys, discussions with industry staff and dealers about sales growth and market penetration, and state and federal statistical data related to cropping, water usage, and technology usage (e.g., USDA-NASS data). These data should be able to allow determinations of impacts as small as 5% growth with sufficient accuracy.Specific procedures for Objective 1:Field studies will compare LESA to MDI and SDI to MDI at SWREC and NWREC respectively, in terms of grain yield, crop water use, soil water amounts, and crop water productivity. The primary crop will be corn, but there may be studies with grain sorghum depending on funding availability from outside sources.Specific procedures for Objective 2:Field studies at NWREC will continue to examine strategies for improved management of SDI for row crops such as corn and grain sorghum. One critical focus area will be determining avoidance procedures for yield-limiting plant growth processes during the season, such as examining kernel set (generally second quartile to just past mid-season) and grain filling (last quartile). Another focus area will be refining cropping practices and SDI operational procedures, such as irrigation timing, frequency, and amounts to obtain best crop performance within varying irrigation constraints.Specific procedures for Objective 3:The data necessary to generate, augment and improve crop production functions will be obtained from all of the proposed field studies. These will be combined as deemed appropriate with other results from previous studies at the sites as well as with databases from broader geographical locations. For alternative crops like cotton, data collected at in-field flux towers and nearby weather stations will be used to for ET-rate calculations with traditional and a novel maximum entropy production (MEP) modeling approaches, calculation of crop production functions that quantify the relationship between environmental stress, precipitation, applied water, and crop yield. These data help irrigation planners and economists to establish current norms, to project and manage future needs and to determine economic profitability of major and alternative crops and irrigation management regimes.Specific procedures for Objective 4:Various irrigation scheduling methods will be evaluated and compared to each other as deem appropriate and as funding is available from outside sources. These methods include weather-, soil- and plant-based methods, as well as combinations of any two or more, to predict when irrigation is needed and how much irrigation is needed. Weather-based irrigation scheduling has proven to be effective on the deeper silt loam soils, yet has not garnered wide spread usage by producers. As a result soil- and plant-based methods need further study as additional information to provide confidence to producers.Specific procedures for Objective 5:Field studies will be conducted at NWREC to evaluate the potential for crop intensification with SDI with a particular focus on corn, the largest irrigated crop in the region. The studies will evaluate precision irrigation and fertigation procedures, optimize plant density, evaluate specific hybrid traits conducive to high yields and evaluate other yield limiting factors such as pests and diseases. These data will be compared to strategies on the other end of the spectrum, such as deficit irrigation, to determine which strategy best manages crop water productivity and/or economic productivity.

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

Outputs
Target Audience:Producers ranging from large, technologically savvy operations to small, part-time or hobby farming operations. Technical service providers such as USDA-NRCS working to improve irrigation and salinity management on regional, state and national scales. Community of scientists and extension specialists in Kansas and also regional, national and international colleagues, particularly for those with semi-arid summer precipitation pattern. Water managers and regulators within the state and region. Policymakers at the local (e.g., GMDs and LEMAs), state (e.g., State agencies and legislators) and national (Federal agencies and Congress) levels. Rural and community interests and foundations. Changes/Problems:Some activites were delayed and/or curtailed in 2020 by the Covid19 crisis but will be resumed in 2021. Overall effects on completion of project should be minimal. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Four undergraduate students were employed for data collection and recieved training in irrigation research at KSU-NWREC(Colby, Kansas). A student intern working at KSU-SWREC at Garden City, Kansas has solidified her plans to pursue a water-related degree. A graduate student was recruited in Biological & Agricultural Engineering department to work on quantification of the ET rates of cotton and corn as part of her masters program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Study results were presented at the annual Central Plains Irrigation Conference at Burlington, Colorado in February 2020 andat a virtual field day at KSU-SWREC at Garden City, Kansas in August 2020. Some activities were not held due to the Covid19 crisis. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Field and laboratory studies will continue in 2021.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A study was intiated at KSU-NWREC(Colby, Kansas) to examine intensification of corn production for sprinkler irrigated corn byselection of corn hybrid, increased plant density, irrigation level andadvanced fertilization. Data has been collected for the crop year and is being analyzed. A study was continued at KSU-NWREC(Colby, Kansas) evaluating grain sorghum performance under deficit sprinklerirrigation where the goal is primarily to save irriagtion water but to be able to assure a crop yield. No seasonal irrigation is applied until the boot stage of grain sorghum and then irrigation is applied as needed (100% ET-rain) until total irrigation reaches, 75 mm, 150 mm or full irriagtion requirement. These three irrigation levels are compared againsta non-irrigated control treatment. The study was completed in 2020 and the data is now being analyzed. A study was continued at KSU-NWREC(Colby, Kansas) examining deficit sprinklef irrigated corn where water was either concentrated during the pre-anthesis period or the post-anthesis period. Two irrigation capacities (water volume/time) are compared for the two concentration periods.The study was completed in 2020 and the data is now being analyzed. A study was conducted to examine in-season fertigation of nitrogen for deficit sprinkler irrigated corn production at KSU-NWREC(Colby, Kansas). There are three irrigation levels and three fertilization schemes. Data collected in 2020 are now being analyzed. Research plots were established at KSU-SWRECto evaluate different application devices for center pivot irrigation systems. Two crops, corn and cotton, were planted on the center pivot with four different application devices, LEPA, MESA and MDI with two different emitter rates (1 and 2 gph) plots with high and low plant population mimicking a deficit irrigation capacity. As proposed, there was to be a fertigation study this year. However, fertigation studies were postponed since the pandemic affected the procurement and installation of the injection pump and its appurtenances. A study was initiated to quantify water usage of cotton production in southwest Kansas. Since cotton is a relatively new crop for southwest Kansas, evaluating evapotranspiration rates, crop production function, water stress and water usage of cotton under thermally limited conditions is needed. For that study we established in-situ data collection of meteorological variables on an irrigated SWREC crop field in Garden City, KS. The field was divided into two sections with corn planted in the east side and cotton planted in the west side. The field was under center-pivot irrigation with similar irrigation schedule in both sections. Continuous subhourly readings of precipitation, air, skin surface, canopy, and soil temperatures, solar and net radiation fluxes, windspeed, air relative humidity, and soil water content were collected at both field sections with Campbell Scientific weather stations. During the growing season agronomic characteristics of cotton and corn were frequently measured. Cotton bulk and lint yields will be collected at harvest later in the fall or early winter. Field setup and observations will target data collection necessary to inform the theoretical approach, generating daily ET rates, calculating crop coefficient, and estimating crop water usage. FAO and ASCE methods for estimating reference and crop ET rates based on standard Penman-Monteith approach will becompared with the the recently formulated maximum entropy production (MEP) model. The foundation of the MEP model is built on advancements in the non-equilibrium thermodynamics and the principle of maximum entropy, and allows the partition of surface radiative fluxes into (turbulent and/or conductive) heat fluxes as functions of surface net radiation, air and soil temperature, and air relative humidity. A virtual field day was held on August 27th at KSU-NWREC that featured the cotton plots under the linear irrigation system. Preliminary data for 2019 were presented at the Central Plains Irrigation Conference held at Burlington, Colorado on February 2020.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Evett, S. R., P. D. Colaizzi, F. R. Lamm, S. A. OShaughnessy, D. M. Heeren, T. J. Trout, W. L. Kranz, and X. Lin. 2020. Past, present and future of irrigation on the U.S. Great Plains. Trans. ASABE 63(3):703-729.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Porter, D. O., S. Irmak, F. Lamm, T. H. Marek, and B. Rein. 2020. Challenges and opportunities for education in irrigation engineering. Trans. ASABE. 63(5): 1289-1294. (doi: 10.13031/trans.13943)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Baumhardt, R. L., L.A. Haag, P.H. Gowda, R.C. Schwartz, G.W. Marek and F.R. Lamm. 2020. Modeling cotton growth and yield response to irrigation practices for thermally limited growing seasons in Kansas. Trans ASABE (In press)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Mo, Y., G. Li, D, Wang, F. R. Lamm, J. Wang, Y. Zhang, M. Cai, and S. Gonga. 2020. Planting and preemergence irrigation procedures to enhance germination of subsurface drip irrigated corn. Agric. Wat. Manage. 242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106412
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Zhang, Y., P. Gowda, D. Brown, C. Rice, Z. Zambreski, S. Kutikoff, and X. Lin, 2020: Time-varying trends and abrupt changes in frost indicators in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. International Journal of Climatology, DOI: 10.1002/joc.6803.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Zhao, S., X. Xu, D. Wei, X. Lin, S. Qiu, I. Ciampitti, and P. He, 2020: Soybean yield, nutrient uptake and stoichiometry under different climate regions of northeast china. Scientific Reports, 10(1), pp.1-9.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Zhao, S., R. Schwalbert, X. Lin, X. Xu, and I. Ciampitti, 2020: Spatial variation of seed yield, yield response, and nutrient requirements for soybean in northeast China. Crop Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20271
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Dhungel, R., R. Aiken, X. Lin, S. Kenyon, P. D. Colaizzi, R. Luhman, R. L. Baumhardt, D. OBrien, S. Kutikoff, D. Brauer, 2019: Restricted water allocations: Landscape-scale energy balance simulations and adjustments in agricultural water applications. Agricultural Water Management, 227(2020), 105854.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Zhang, T. R. Mahmood, X. Lin, and R. A. Pielke Sr. 2019: Irrigation impacts on surface air moist enthalpy in the Central Great Plains of the USA. Weather and Climate Extremes, 23 (2019), 100197
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Lamm, F. R. 2020. Management for reduced irrigation diversions. In: Proc. 32nd annual Central Plains Irrigation Conference, Feb. 18-19, 2020, Burlington, Colorado. Available from CPIA, 760 N. Thompson, Colby, Kansas. pp. 76-90.
  • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Irrigation at K-State Research and Extension https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/irrigate/
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Oker, T.E., Kisekka, I., Sheshukov, A.Y., Aguilar, J. and Rogers, D., 2020. Evaluation of dynamic uniformity and application efficiency of mobile drip irrigation. Irrigation Science, 38(1), pp.17-35.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Aguilar, J.P. and D. Rogers. 2020. Evaluation of Mobile Drip Irrigation (MDI) and Other Sprinkler Packages. Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Central Plains Irrigation Conference, Burlington, Colorado, Feb. 18-19, 2020. pp. 48-57.