Impact analysis of moisture stress on growth and yield of cotton using DSSAT-CROPGRO-cotton model under semi-arid climate

Rotash Kumar; Sudhir Kumar Mishra; Kulvir Singh; Ibrahim Al-Ashkar; Muhammad Aamir Iqbal; Muhammad Noor Muzamil; Muhammad Habib Ur Rahman; Ayman El Sabagh

doi:10.7717/peerj.16329

Impact analysis of moisture stress on growth and yield of cotton using DSSAT-CROPGRO-cotton model under semi-arid climate

PeerJ. 2023 Nov 9:11:e16329. doi: 10.7717/peerj.16329. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Rotash Kumar¹, Sudhir Kumar Mishra¹, Kulvir Singh¹, Ibrahim Al-Ashkar², Muhammad Aamir Iqbal³, Muhammad Noor Muzamil⁴, Muhammad Habib Ur Rahman^{5

6}, Ayman El Sabagh⁷

Affiliations

¹ Punjab Agricultural University, Regional Research Station, Faridkot, Punjab, India.
² Plant Production Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Poonch, Rawalakot, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Agronomy, MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan.
⁵ Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), Crop Science, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
⁶ Department of Seed Science and Technology, Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology (IPBB), MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
⁷ Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr El-Shaikh, Egypt.

Abstract

Adequate soil moisture around the root zone of the crops is essential for optimal plant growth and productivity throughout the crop season, whereas excessive as well as deficient moisture is usually detrimental. A field experiment was conducted on cotton (Gossipium hirsuttum) with three water regimes (viz. well-watered (control); rainfed after one post-sowing irrigation (1-POSI) and rainfed after two post-sowing irrigations (2-POSI)) in main plots and application of eight osmoprotectants in sub plots of Split plot design to quantify the loss of seed cotton yield (SCY) under high and mild moisture stress. The DSSAT-CROPGRO-cotton model was calibrated to validate the response of cotton crop to water stress. Results elucidated that in comparison of well watered (control) crop, 1-POSI and 2-POSI reduced plant height by 13.5-28.4% and lower leaf area index (LAI) by 21.6-37.6%. Pooled analysis revealed that SCY under control was higher by 1,127 kg ha^-1 over 1-POSI and 597 kg ha^-1 than 2-POSI. The DSSAT-CROPGRO-cotton model fairly simulated the cotton yield as evidenced by good accuracy (d-stat ≥ 0.92) along with lower root mean square error (RMSE) of ≤183.2 kg ha^-1; mean absolute percent error (MAPE) ≤6.5% under different irrigation levels. Similarly, simulated and observed biomass also exhibited good agreement with ≥0.98 d-stat; ≤533.7 kg ha^-1 RMSE; and ≤4.6% MAPE. The model accurately simulated the periodical LAI, biomass and soil water dynamics as affected by varying water regimes in conformity with periodical observations. Both the experimental and the simulated results confirmed the decline of SCY with any degree of water stress. Thus, a well calibrated DSSAT-CROPGRO-cotton model may be successfully used for estimating the crop performance under varying hydro-climatic conditions.

Keywords: DSSAT-CROPGRO-cotton model; Moisture stress; Post sowing irrigation; Seed cotton yield; Simulation.

MeSH terms

Agricultural Irrigation* / methods
Crops, Agricultural
Dehydration*
Gossypium
Soil

Substances

Soil

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India. Also, this work was funded by the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP2023R298), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The funders had a role in the study design, data analysis, and preparation of the manuscript.