Field drainage and nitrogen leaching: some experimental results

Abstract

Public concern continues to be expressed about the quality of water discharged from agricultural lands. High concentrations of nitrate nitrogen are often blamed on modern agricultural practice in general and to land drainage in particular (Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, 1979, para. 4.38). However, undrained land also discharges water by flow within the soil and across the soil surface and it may discharge significant quantities of solutes.