Cotton Yield and Lint Response to Tillage System and Irrigation Interval under Wheat Based Cropping System
Cotton Yield and Lint Response to Tillage System and Irrigation Interval under Wheat Based Cropping System
Niamat Ullah Khan1*, Umbreen Shahzad2, Azhar Abbas Khan2, Sami Ullah2, Muhammad Arshad Farooq2, Muhammad Kashan2 and Shitab Khan2
ABSTRACT
Water shortage is becoming a serious concern for all crops and particularly for cotton, which has been a major export contributor of Pakistan. In this scenario, reduced tillage could be the best option. A field experiment was conducted during 2019 to study the impact of two tillage systems [reduced (10 cm depth, one tiller followed by rotavator) and conventional (20 cm depth, including disc plough, cultivator, rotavator, and levelling operations)] and five irrigation intervals (10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 days) on cotton yield and lint percentage. Total irrigation water used in irrigation treatments, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 days intervals were 1125, 750, 560, 450 and 360 mm, respectively. Results indicated that reduced tillage had higher plant population (32454), plant height (114.8cm), bolls per plants (18.9), bolls weight (2.42g), seed cotton yield (1812 kg ha-1) and lint percentage (36.72%) than conventional tillage. Likewise, frequent irrigation interval of 10 days produced taller plants compared to less frequent irrigations (20-25 days). Irrigation at 20 days interval improved seed cotton yield (48.7%) and lint %age (21.1%). Interaction effects (tillage x irrigation) revealed that reduced tillage with 20 days irrigation interval conserved 60 % more water, produced 60.4% more bolls per plant, 45.8 % heavier boll weight, 21.1% higher lint %age and 41.6% higher seed cotton yield compared to all other combinations. In conclusion, reduced tillage with 20 days irrigation interval is more advantageous and adaptable in agro-ecological conditions of Dera Ismail Khan.
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