Fate of metolachlor under subirrigation in a sandy soil: a lysimeter study

A three-year field lysimeter study was conducted to investigate the role of subirrigation systems in reducing the risk of water pollution from metolachlor (2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methlphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl)ace tamide). Nine large PVC lysimeters, 1 m long x 0.45 m diameter, were packed with a sandy soil. Three water table management treatments, i.e. two subirrigation treatments with constant water table depths of 0.4 and 0.8 m, respectively, and a free drainage treatment in a completely randomized design with three replicates were used. Corn (Zea mays L.) was grown in each lysimeter, and at the beginning of summer of each year metolachlor was applied, at the locally recommended rate of 2.75 kg a.i./ha. Soil and water samples were collected at different time intervals after each natural or simulated rainfall event. Metolachlor was extracted from these samples and analyzed using Gas Chromatography. Results obtained in this three year study, (1993-1995), lead to the conclusion that metolachlor is quite mobile since it leached to a depth of 0.85 m below the soil surface quite early in the growing season. Metolachlor concentrations decreased with depth as well as with time. The shallower water table in the 0.4 m subirrigation treatment showed less residues in the soil solution than that of other treatments. However, a mass balance study, supported by an independent laboratory investigation, shows that water table management, statistically, has no significant effect on the reduction of metolachlor residues in sandy soils.