Mississippi Delta ‘319’ Irrigation Water Management Project

This project began in 1995 and was completed in 2000. The main goal of this project was the maintenance and enhancement of Missouri’s portion of the Mississippi Delta alluvial aquifer. This goal was achieved through field scale demonstrations of improved irrigation systems and education efforts. Demonstrations were conducted in the following areas:

1. Side Inlet rice irrigation
2. Surge irrigation for row crops
3. Flow uniformity improvement for row crops
4. Chlorophyll meter testing for improved nutrient management

On the Side Inlet rice irrigation demonstration sites, the fields irrigated by using the Side Inlet method showed a water savings of 30-50%. Some of the benefits of the Side Inlet rice that producers noticed were:

1. On the initial flooding of fields, the Side Inlet fields pumped up quicker
2. Simpler management
3. Reduced “cold water” damage to rice

Education played a big role in this project. When the project was proposed, there was very limited use of Side Inlet and Surge/Furrow Flow Improvement. A combination of field tours, educational meetings, and newspaper and magazine articles contributed to the success of the project. At the end of the project in 2000, over 80,000 acres of irrigation water management had been put into practice with 20,000-30,000 acres of that being with surge irrigation. There were over 20,000 acres of Side Inlet irrigated rice.
 

Bootheel Prescription Farming Project

This project demonstrated economic and environmental benefits of Variable Rate Applications of lime and fertilizer on cropland. New equipment and technologies were used to determine specific amounts of supplemental nutrients needed for optimum production.
Variable rate application equipment distributed lime and fertilizer according to “spatial” maps assembled from intensive soil test recommendations. The result was environmentally safe, optimum production with reduced input costs.