National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research
Two things that pertain to irrigation of soybeans in the Midsouth are certain. 1) Properly applied irrigation to soybean results in a large, profitable yield increase. 2) The majority of water used for soybean irrigation in the region is pumped from the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVAA), and the amount of water in this source is declining. This means that either irrigation efficiency must be improved on all irrigated acres so that this decline is stopped, or the amount of irrigated acres will have to be reduced/curtailed so that the amount of water used for irrigation does not exceed the capacity of the aquifer to supply it.
To address the decline in the MRVAA, the USDA-ARS and Mississippi State University jointly established the National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research (NCAAR) at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, Miss. This cooperative program was put in place to generate and share research-based information that will result in the sustainability of the MRVAA as the primary source of irrigation water for crops in the region.
The planned objectives for the NCAAR are to: 1) develop and implement water-efficient cropping systems; 2) improve water capture so that pumping from the MRVAA can be reduced; 3) improve irrigation efficiency; 4) develop water-saving irrigation management strategies; and 5) develop/identify economic tools that will enable producers to adopt irrigation efficiency tools. Click here to access the NCAAR website.
The MSPB has financially supported numerous research and extension projects that have provided information about the tools and technologies that can be used by producers to improve irrigation efficiency. These tools include soil moisture sensors for scheduling irrigation, surge irrigation to prevent overwatering, PHAUCET/Pipe Planner to ensure uniform distribution of irrigation water delivered through polypipe, and tailwater recovery to collect water runoff from irrigated fields. Details about how to use all of these tools can be found in MSPB’s “Mississippi Soybean Irrigation Guide” that is posted on this website.
Information about the relationship between soybean plant water status during the growing season and irrigation management is provided in a White Paper titled “Soybean Water Relations and Irrigation” that is posted on this website. Click here to access all articles on the MSPB website that pertain to soybean irrigation.
Results from NCAAR research and extension activities should enhance MSPB-funded efforts that have been/are directed towards the conservation and sustainability of the MRVAA water resource used for irrigation. This will involve the Center’s development of new and/or improved practices related to irrigation scheduling and application, as well as promoting the adoption of already-proven and forthcoming new water conservation measures on the entire irrigated acreage in the Midsouth.
Composed by Larry G. Heatherly, Feb. 2022, larryh91746@gmail.com