Simulating pesticide leaching and runoff in rice paddies with the RICEWQ-VADOFT model

• Published in: Journal of environmental quality 2003-11, Vol.32 (6), p.2189-2199
• Main Authors: Miao, Z, Cheplick, M.J, Williams, M.W, Trevisan, M, Padovani, L, Gennari, M, Ferrero, A, Vidotto, F, Capri, E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: agricultural runoff; Agriculture; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Applied sciences; Biological and medical sciences; Biological and physicochemical phenomena; Biological and physicochemical properties of pollutants. Interaction in the soil; chemical concentration; cinosulfuron; Cultivation; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Environmental assessment; Environmental impact; environmental models; Environmental Monitoring; Exact sciences and technology; Farming systems; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Grain cultivation; Groundwater runoff; Humans; hydrologic models; Leaching; losses from soil; Models, Theoretical; Natural water pollution; nonpoint source pollution; Oryza; paddy soils; pesticide residues; Pesticides; Pesticides - analysis; Pollution; Pollution, environment geology; predicted environmental concentration; Rice fields; rice soils; Runoff; Soil and sediments pollution; Soil and water pollution; soil erosion models; Soil permeability; Soil Pollutants - analysis; soil pollution; Soil profiles; Soil science; Soils; sulfonylurea herbicides; Surface water; Surface-groundwater relations; Vadose water; vadose zone; Water depth; Water management; Water Movements; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; water pollution; Water quality; Water treatment and pollution
• ISSN: 0047-2425; 1537-2537
• DOI: 10.2134/jeq2003.2189

There is a current need to simulate leaching and runoff of pesticide from rice (Oryza sativa L.) paddies for assessing environmental impacts on a valuable agricultural system. The objective of this study was to develop a model for determining predicted environmental concentration (PEC) in soil, runoff, and ground water through the linkage of two models, rice water quality model (RICEWQ) and vadose zone transport model (VADOFT), to simulate pesticide fate and transport within a rice paddy and underlying soil profile. Model performance was evaluated with a field data set obtained from a 2-yr field experiment in 1997 and 1998 in northern Italy. The predictions of amount of pesticide running off from the paddy field and accumulating in the paddy sediment were in agreement with measured values. Leaching into the vadose zone accounted for approximately 19% of the applied dose, but only a small amount of chemical (