The potential of incorporated organic matter to reduce pesticide leaching

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Abstract
The potential of buried straw and animal manure to influence the fate and behaviour of isoproturon in a clay soil was studied using field samples in the laboratory. The organic materials were ploughed into the field site and samples were taken 3–7 months later. Samples of straw and associated soil were found to have a higher isoproturon degradation potential than the topsoil. The adsorption equilibrium coefficients (Kd) for isoproturon in samples of buried straw and animal manure were found to be ten to a hundred times greater than those for unamended soil. The potential of buried straw to sorb isoproturon increased between November and late December. Two thirds less isoproturon leached from undisturbed soil columns containing cattle manure than those containing straw only. The amount of straw left on the field from the previous cereal crop was considered insufficient to influence isoproturon leaching.