Optimal planting pattern of cotton is regulated by irrigation amount under mulch drip irrigation

Wenqing Zuo; Baojian Wu; Yuxuan Wang; Shouzhen Xu; Jingshan Tian; Xingli Jiu; Hengyi Dong; Wangfeng Zhang

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1158329

Optimal planting pattern of cotton is regulated by irrigation amount under mulch drip irrigation

Front Plant Sci. 2023 May 30:14:1158329. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1158329. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Wenqing Zuo¹, Baojian Wu¹, Yuxuan Wang¹, Shouzhen Xu¹, Jingshan Tian¹, Xingli Jiu², Hengyi Dong², Wangfeng Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Oasis Eco-Agriculture, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, College of Agronomy, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, China.
² Regimental Farm 149, Division Eight, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Shihezi, China.

Abstract

Objective: It is of great importance to explore agronomic management measures for water conservation and cotton yield in arid areas.

Methods: A four-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate cotton yield and soil water consumption under four row spacing configurations (high/low density with 66+10 cm wide, narrow row spacing, RS_66+10H and RS_66+10L; high/low density with 76 cm equal row spacing, RS₇₆H and RS₇₆L) and two irrigation amounts (CI:conventional drip irrigation; LI:limited drip irrigation) during the growing seasons in Shihezi, Xinjiang.

Results: A quadratic relationship was observed between the maximum LAI (LAI_max) and seed yield. Canopy apparent transpiration rate(CAT), daily water consumption intensity (DWCI) and crop evapotranspiration (ET_C) were positively and linearly correlated with LAI. The seed yields, lint yields, and ET_C under CI were 6.6-18.3%,7.1-20.8% and 22.9-32.6%higher than those observed under LI, respectively. The RS_66+10H under CI had the highest seed and lint yields. RS₇₆L had an optimum LAI_max range, which ensured a higher canopy apparent photosynthesis and daily dry matter accumulation and reached the same yield level as RS_66+10H; however, soil water consumption in RS₇₆L was reduced ET_C by 51-60 mm at a depth of 20-60 cm at a radius of 19-38 cm from the cotton row,and water use efficiency increased by 5.6-8.3%compared to RS_66+10H under CI.

Conclusion: A 5.0<LAI_max<5.5 is optimum for cotton production in northern Xinjiang, and RS₇₆L under CI is recommended for high yield and can further reduce water consumption. Under LI, the seed and lint yield of RS_66+10H were 3.7-6.0% and 4.6-6.9% higher than those of RS₇₆L, respectively. In addition, high-density planting can exploit the potential of soil water to increase cotton yields under water shortage conditions.

Keywords: cotton; leaf area index; mulch drip irrigation; row spacing configuration; soil water consumption.

Grants and funding

This experimental work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFD1001001).