Controlling runoff under low pressure center pivot irrigation systems

A research study was conducted in commercial potato production fields irrigated by low pressure center pivot irrigation systems for three growing seasons in southern Idaho, USA. Plots were established to give several replications of both conventional and reservoir tillage under the outermost spans, where the highest application rates occur. The soil was silt loam, and the topography varied from nearly level to 5% slopes. The sprinkler devices included spray nozzles on drops (spraydrops), spray nozzles on booms (spraybooms) and rotator spray nozzles on drops (rotator spraydrops) with an operating pressure of 138 kPa.The purpose of this study was to investigate and assess the role of reservoir tillage on controlling runoff, uniformity of soil water content throughout the field, and crop yield, as compared with conventional tillage. Reservoir tillage effectively reduced runoff losses to less than 1% of the applied water, when the dike were intact and remained stable. Over the three years of this study reservoir tillage increased the average soil water content by 18%. In addition, a statistical analysis showed that reservoir tillage significantly increased the percent available water in the top 65 cm of the root zone (P=0.01). The use of reservoir tillage elevated average yield by 21%, and average percent number one tubers was increased from 64% for conventional plots to 68% for reservoirtilled plots. While reservoir tillage increased the yield significantly (P=0.01), the sprinkler type did not have a significant influence on yield.