Upland Cotton Water Stress Sensitivity By Maturity Class

Abstract

Lint yield response to three irrigation treatments based on allowable soil moisture depletion regimes of 50, 75, and 100% depletion of available soil moisture was tested on both a determinate (D&PL 5415) and an indeterminate (D&PL 5816) upland cotton. Arizona Meteorological Weather Networks' (AZMET) potential evapotranspiration (ETo) estimates in combination with cotton crop coefficients were used in a summation manner until targeted depletion thresholds were reached which then triggered the desired irrigation event. The experiment consisted of three irrigation treatments with each main irrigation treatment containing both the determinate and indeterminate variety selection resulting in a randomized complete block split plot design. Actual irrigation volume delivered was 46, 42, and 32 acre inches /acre in 1994 and 52, 48, and 36 acre inches /acre in 1995 for the wet, medium, and dry treatment respectively. Lint yields were significantly reduced in 1994 when available soil moisture depletion exceeded 75% in the determinate variety with no significant yield differences in the indeterminate variety in 1994 across all irrigation treatment regimes. In 1995, lint yields were down across all treatments and varieties with the only statistically significant reduction in lint yield (relative to all 1995 yields) occurring in the dry indeterminate block