Glen Ritchie, Amanda Ziehl, Don Shurley, and Lola Sexton. University of Georgia, 2356 Rainwater Rd., Tifton, GA 31793
Irrigation and plant growth regulators (PGRs) affect cotton growth, height, and development. Irrigation increases crop height and slows maturity, while the addition of PGRs, such as mepiquat chloride, decreases crop height and increases maturity. Irrigation and PGR application both increase cotton management costs. We examined the effects of varied irrigation and mepiquat chloride application based on remote sensing to test the effects of precision mepiquat chloride application on input costs, crop uniformity, and crop yield and quality. Cotton was grown under a variable rate irrigation system at the Stripling Irrigation Research Park in Camilla, Georgia with four levels of irrigation and four replicates. Subplots within each irrigation plot had four levels of mepiquat chloride application. One was a full application, the second and third were based on varying levels of oversight based on aerial images during the season, and the fourth was a control treatment with no mepiquat chloride applied. Plant height and maturity were measured prior to each mepiquat chloride application, and crop yield and quality were measured at the end. The results suggest effects of varied application of both irrigation and mepiquat chloride application.
