ALACHLOR AND METRIBUZIN MOVEMENT AND DISSIPATION IN A SOIL-PROFILE AS INFLUENCED BY SOIL SURFACE CONDITION

The influence of wheat straw cover, tillage, and irrigation on metribuzin and alachlor movement and dissipation in an Appling coarse sandy loam (Typic Hapludult) and the influence of soil depth on their rate of dissipation were measured in field and laboratory experiments conducted in 1987 and 1988. Overall, metribuzin moved more than alachlor in both years. Alachlor movement was greater in tilled plots compared to no-till plots in 1988. Metribuzin movement was greater in no-till plots in 1987. Straw cover had little effect on the movement of alachlor, but the presence of 2800 kg ha-1 of straw on the soil surface increased the downward movement of metribuzin in both years compared to soil with no straw cover. The rate of alachlor dissipation in the soil was faster in straw-covered and no-till plots in both years and in the high irrigation level in 1988. Metribuzin dissipation was not affected by any of these factors. Alachlor rate of dissipation did not differ among depths in the field; however, dissipation differed in the laboratory in the order 0 to 20 cm > 20 to 45 cm = 45 to 68 cm. Metribuzin dissipated faster at the 8-cm depth in the field compared to the 58-cm depth. In the laboratory, metribuzin dissipation rates followed the order 0 to 20 cm > 20 to 45 cm > 45 to 68 cm. At the greatest depth, the dissipation of metribuzin was faster in the field than in the laboratory.