Impact of Conservation Tillage, Cover Crops, and Irrigation Timing on Cotton Production.

Impact of conservation tillage, cover crops, and irrigation timing on cotton production.

C. Coufal, P.B. DeLaune, P. Mubvumba, K.L. Lewis.

Water is the limiting factor for crop production within the Texas Rolling Plains and has become a critical resource for multiple stakeholders. Hence, efficient irrigation is paramount to conserve water resources. We evaluated three irrigation strategies over a five year period: 1) continuous irrigation starting after emergence at 3.8-5.1 mm/day (high); 2) continuous irrigation starting at flowering at 3.8-5.1 mm/day (low); and 3) continuous irrigation starting at flowering at 5.1-6.35 mm/day (medium) conducted on conventional, strip-till, no-till and no-till with a terminated wheat cover crop. Lint yields and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) were significantly affected by the main effects of tillage and irrigation level. Lint yields were not significantly different between the high and low water treatments. No-till systems, with and without cover crops, resulted in significantly higher lint yields than the conventional till treatment. Low irrigation treatments resulted in greater IWUE while no-till with a terminated wheat cover crop yielded higher IWUE than strip-till and conventional tillage. Our results have indicated that early irrigation to bank soil moisture is not efficient as irrigation at critical growth stages can conserve irrigation water and maintain production goals.