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A paddy eco-ditch and wetland system to reduce non-point source pollution from rice-based production system while maintaining water use efficiency

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Abstract

Non-point source (NPS) pollution from agricultural drainage has aroused widespread concerns throughout the world due to its contribution to eutrophication of water bodies. To remove nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from agricultural drainage in situ, a Paddy Eco-ditch and Wetland System (PEDWS) was designed and built based on the characteristics of the irrigated rice district. A 2-year (2012–2013) field experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of this system in Gaoyou Irrigation District in Eastern China. The results showed that the reduction in water input in paddy field of the PEDWS enabled the maintenance of high rice yield; it significantly increased irrigation water productivity (WPI), gross water productivity (WPG), and evapotranspiration water productivity (WPET) by 109.2, 67.1, and 17.6 %, respectively. The PEDWS dramatically decreased N and P losses from paddy field. Compared with conventional irrigation and drainage system (CIDS), the amount of drainage water from PEDWS was significantly reduced by 56.2 %, the total nitrogen (TN) concentration in drainage was reduced by 42.6 %, and thus the TN and total phosphorus (TP) losses were reduced by 87.8 and 70.4 %. PEDWS is technologically feasible and applicable to treat nutrient losses from paddy fields in situ and can be used in similar areas.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC 51179049 and 51179048), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China under the National Scientific and Technological Support Project (2011BAD25B07, 2012BAD08B04), and the Advanced Science and Technology Innovation Team in Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province. The authors are very grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their comments and remarks, which have resulted in significant improvements to this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Yujiang Xiong, Shizhang Peng, Yufeng Luo, Junzeng Xu & Shihong Yang

  2. College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Yujiang Xiong, Shizhang Peng, Yufeng Luo, Junzeng Xu & Shihong Yang

  3. Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Yufeng Luo

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  1. Yujiang Xiong
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  2. Shizhang Peng
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  3. Yufeng Luo
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  5. Shihong Yang
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Correspondence to Yufeng Luo.

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Xiong, Y., Peng, S., Luo, Y. et al. A paddy eco-ditch and wetland system to reduce non-point source pollution from rice-based production system while maintaining water use efficiency. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 4406–4417 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3697-7

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