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Preplant and early-season cotton irrigation timing with deficit amounts using subsurface drip (SDI) systems in the Texas High Plains

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Abstract

Two major irrigation challenges of cotton producers in the Texas High Plains (THP) include the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer and the highly evaporative, semi-arid environment during late spring and early summer. A recent cotton experiment using center pivot irrigation at deficit irrigation capacities showed the reduction in seasonal irrigation by 20% with minor yield loss by reducing irrigations during the vegetative period instead of attempting to store soil water during this period of high evaporative losses. Due to its method of delivery, subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) should reduce evaporation losses during the preplant and early-season periods and improve water storage efficiency and crop yield even at low irrigation capacity. Two experiments having different SDI installation designs and irrigation capacities were conducted in adjacent fields on clay loam soils over 4- and 5-year periods. Treatments included levels of preplant (PP) and vegetative (Veg) period irrigations. In both experiments, under seasonal growing conditions ranging from favorable to unfavorable, yields and crop values were only modestly increased by additional PP irrigations above that required for germination. Among treatments with common PP amounts, larger irrigation amounts during the vegetative period did not significantly (p < 0.05) increase yield or crop value in any individual year or any group of years. In three growing season groupings, with unfavorable to favorable weather conditions, as seasonal irrigation increased, gross irrigation value decreased. Results suggest that in most years, on heavy soils within the THP, SDI productivity can be improved by limiting PP and early-season irrigations under deficit irrigation conditions.

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Abbreviations

CCC:

Commodity credit corporation

Cvalue:

Crop value, crop yield x commodity price

E1:

Experiment 1, traditional SDI design at 5.1 mm/d maximum irrigation capacity from 2014 to 2018

E2:

Experiment 2, every-row SDI design at 3.8 mm/d maximum irrigation capacity from 2015 to 2018

ET:

Evapotranspiration

ETc :

Crop evapotranspiration

ETo :

Reference evapotranspiration

FC:

Field capacity

GIV:

Gross irrigation water value, crop value/total irrigation amount

IC:

Irrigation capacity

IWUE:

Irrigation water use efficiency, crop yield/total irrigation amount

LEPA:

Low-energy precision application

PP:

Preplant, irrigation period prior to planting

R&M:

Reproductive and maturation, irrigation period of crop reproduction and maturation

SIWUE:

Seasonal irrigation water use efficiency, crop yield increase due to seasonal irrigation/seasonal irrigation

SDI:

Subsurface drip irrigation

T:

Transpiration

THP:

Texas High Plains

TWDB:

Texas water development board

Veg:

Vegetative, irrigation period of crop vegetative growth

WUE:

Water use efficiency, crop yield/water requirement for that yield

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Texas A&M AgriLife Research staff of Joe Mustian, Heath Johnson, Scott Jordan, and Casey Hardin for their involvement in field work and data collection. This research was supported by the USDA-NIFA Ogallala Water CAP 2016-68007-25066, the Ogallala Aquifer Program, a consortium between USDA Agricultural Research Service, Kansas State University, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Tech University, and West Texas A&M University. The author also acknowledges support from USDA-NIFA Hatch Project 1007927 through Texas A&M AgriLife Research.

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  1. Senior Research Scientist and Agricultural Engineer, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, 823 W. US Hwy 70, Plainview, TX, 79072, USA

    James P. Bordovsky

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Bordovsky, J.P. Preplant and early-season cotton irrigation timing with deficit amounts using subsurface drip (SDI) systems in the Texas High Plains . Irrig Sci 38, 485–499 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-019-00661-3

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