Infiltration as affected by long-term residue and water management on a loess-derived soil in eastern Arkansas, USA

Improving the understanding of alternative and conventional management practices and their interactions on soil hydraulic properties is instrumental to soil, groundwater, and irrigation water management in the Lower Mississippi River Valley (LMRV), particularly the Delta region of eastern Arkansas. For decades, extensive regional groundwater withdrawals for irrigated agriculture has caused severe groundwater depletion. The objective of this field study was to evaluate the effects of alternative and conventional management practices, including wheat-residue level, residue burning, tillage, and irrigation, on falling-head and tension infiltration into a silt-loam-textured loessial soil (Glossaquic Fraglossudalf) following 11 and 14 years of consistent management in a long-term, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), double-crop (WSDC) production system in eastern Arkansas. In 2012, averaged across tillage, residue-level, and irrigation treatments, the overall tension infiltration rate at a tension of −2 cm into the no-burn (16.1 cm h−1) was over 300% greater (P < .01) than that into the burn treatment (5.3 cm h−1). In 2015, averaged across residue-level and irrigation, falling-head infiltration was 278% greater (P = .05) from the no-tillage (NT)-no-burn (4.35 cm h−1) than the conventional tillage (CT)-burn treatment combination (1.15 cm h−1), while the NT-burn (1.85 cm h−1) and CT-no-burn combinations (1.85 cm h−1) did not differ and were intermediate. Greater understanding of the effects of alternative agronomic management practices in a WSDC system on infiltration and surface hydraulic properties can lead to direct and indirect improvements in soil health, aquifer recharge, crop productivity, and overall resource sustainability in the LMRV.