Reduced Tillage Effects on Cotton Growth and Yield in New Mexico

Reducing tillage in arid soils of southwestern USA is highly necessary, due to accelerated soil erosion, especially by wind and soil quality degradation prominent in conventionally tilled agricultural soils of this region. Conventional land preparation for cotton production in southern New Mexico is based on the plow-till system, which involves following practices -  plowing, deep-ripping, multiple disking and shaping of soil into beds, to provide an optimum seedbed for emerging cotton seedlings. A study was conducted in Las Cruces, New Mexico, to evaluate the effects of different tillage systems on growth and yield of cotton. Tillage treatments tested included plow-till without beds (PTF) [cotton planted on flat], plow-till with beds (PTB) [cotton planted on beds] and strip-till (STP) systems. The strip tillage involved only one single pass with Orthman Manufacturing 1tRIPr strip tillage equipment, to create about 10 inches zone for seed placement. A glandless cotton cultivar (NM 13P1117) was planted in May 2017, and cotton growth, yield and fiber quality were measured. Results showed that there were no significant differences in cotton yield and fiber quality parameters except for micronaire. An economic analysis of the net returns after deducting land preparation costs showed that the strip tillage system was more profitable than both conventional tillage treatments that were tested due to much lower land preparation cost.