Effect of Irrigation Timing on Cotton Production Under Various Tillage Strategies

This paper will discuss the impact of irrigation timing on cotton production under four different tillage stategies. Tillage strategies include conventional tillage, strip-till, no-till, and no-till with a terminated cover crop. Irrigation timing includes 0.25 in/day beginning at planting, 0.25 in/day beginning at flowering, and 0.33 in/day beginning at flowering. We found that delaying irrigation until flowering (0.25 in/day) restulted in 41% water savings and only 5% lower yields compared to initiating irrigation at planting. Conservatoin tillage had the greatest effect, or boost in yields, at lower irrigation regimes.