The Lint Yield and Fiber Quality of Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. ) Under Several Regulated Deficit Irrigation Schemes in Southwest Texas

The urban water demand in Southwest Texas is increasing rapidly in recent years due to the population increase in this area. One possible way to assist in solving this problem is to reduce the agricultural water use without affecting crop yield. Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) is a widely used measure for saving water and maintaining crop yield. An experiment with seven treatments, including five ‘fixed’ (X) and two ‘dynamic’ (D) irrigation schemes, was developed in the summers of 2008 and 2009 and tested on several different varieties to determine whether more irrigation water could be saved by a RDI method. Both lint yield and fiber quality parameters were compared among different irrigation schemes. The possibility of improving fiber quality through dynamic irrigation scheme was also discussed. Better irrigation scheduling schemes were suggested based on the results for water saving as well as fiber quality improvement.