In a Crowley silt loam, between 30 kPa, continuous flood, and alternate flood laboratory treatments at 25 C, dissipation of incorporated oxadiazon [2-tert-butyl-4(2,4-dichloro-5-isopropoxyphenyl)-Δ2-1,3,4-oxadiazolin-5-one] varied little, with an average of 59% remaining after 20 weeks. In the greenhouse, subsurface application of oxadiazon reduced its phytotoxicity but increased its persistence up to four times more than with surface-applied oxadiazon. In the field, 50% of the surface-applied oxadiazon dissipated from the soil within 6 to 11 days when the soil was flush irrigated and then flooded, compared to 15 to 17 days when the soil was irrigated but not flooded in two rice (Oryza sativa L.) management systems. Oxadiazon dissipation in the field was greater during the first 2 or 3 weeks after application than in the laboratory study. This is explained at least partially by the lack of herbicide incorporation in the field.

Weed control in rice is challenging, particularly in light of increased resistance to herbicides in weed populations and diminishing availability of irrigation water. Certain indica rice cultivars can produce high yields and suppress weeds in conventional flood-irrigated, drill-seeded systems in the southern United States under reduced herbicide inputs, but their response to reduced irrigation inputs in these systems in not known. Rice productivity and weed control by weed-suppressive cultivars and conventional nonsuppressive cultivars were evaluated in a nonflooded furrow-irrigated (FU) system and a conventionally flooded (FL) system under three levels of weed management (herbicide inputs) in a 3-yr field study. Rice yields across all weed management levels yielded ∼ 76% less in the FU system than in the FL system. The allelopathic indica cultivar, ‘PI 312777’, and commercial hybrid rice ‘CLXL729’ generally produced the highest grain yields and greatest suppression of barnyardgrass in both irrigation systems. ‘Bengal’ and ‘Wells’ were the top-yielding conventional cultivars whereas ‘Lemont’ and ‘CL171AR’ yielded the least. Weed suppression by PI 312777 and CLXL729 under “medium” weed management was equivalent to that of Lemont and CL171AR at the “high” management level, suggesting that the weed-suppressive cultivars may be able to compensate for suboptimal herbicide inputs or incomplete weed control.

The economic feasibility of investing in sprinkler irrigation technology for rice production is investigated using linear programming and capital budgeting to identify the net annual benefits and net present value, respectively. Groundwater and both flat rate and volumetrically priced surface water sources of irrigation water are analyzed. Under typical practices occurring in rice production operations in the Texas Rice Belt, sprinkler irrigation technology is not profitable at current water costs. Producers using volumetrically priced surface water have the greatest incentive to consider sprinkler irrigation, but water prices must increase by over 250 percent for the investment in a sprinkler irrigation system to become attractive. Yield reductions associated with sprinkle-irrigated rice are a significant disincentive. For equivalent flood- and sprinkle-irrigated rice yields, an increase in water prices of over 175 percent is required before the investment in a sprinkler irrigation system becomes economically feasible.