Soil Quality research at CSWQRU has the goal of developing and evaluating alternative cropping systems that can reduce surface runoff and soil erosion and increase rooting depth and crop production on claypan soils.

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Water quality and soil quality are inseparably linked on claypan soil watersheds. Improving the quality of restricting subsurface horizons leads to higher production and at the same time reduces nonpoint erosion and chemical transport from farm fields into stream and river systems.

Research at CSWQRU evaluates soil and water quality and profitability of alternative farming systems at plot and field scales, and integrates these results at the watershed level.

Read more about our research as part of the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) developing the STEWARDS database application in the August 2006 and in the December 2008 issues of Agricultural Research, U.S. Department of Agriculture's science magazine.

Projects and programs in Soil Quality at CSWQRU include:

• DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE PRACTICES FOR IMPROVED WATERSHED MANAGEMENT
• OPTIMIZING IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT FOR HUMID CLIMATES  
• SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE SITE-SPECIFIC SOIL AND CROP MANAGEMENT
• CONSERVATION EFFECTS ASSESSMENT PROJECT
• DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF A GIS-BASED RISK ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR TARGETING CONSERVATION PRACTICES TO IMPROVE WATER QUALITY
  

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