Impact of Using Guar As a Rotation Crop on Cotton Production in American Southwest

This study evaluates the impact of using guar as a rotation crop to enhance farm profitability in the southwestern region. Guar is an annual legume with many desirable properties including higher drought tolerance, positive impact on soil fertility, high potential for boosting subsequent crop yields, and a lower cost of production as compared to other crops such as cotton that is currently grown in the region. Moreover, previous agronomic studies show that introduction of guar as rotation crop can increase cotton yield by fifteen percent. Despite its high potential for boosting farm profitability and rising demand for its byproducts, there is limited domestic production. As a result, most of its domestic demand is primarily satisfied by importing various byproducts of the crop from India and Pakistan. This study evaluates the potential risk and benefits of introducing guar as one of the rotation crops in the existing cotton production system in the American southwest region using yield data obtained from different experimental plots in New Mexico. The preliminary results show that factors such as planting dates, production location, and the risk attitude of producers affect crop yield and farm profitability.