Cotton Production, Physiology and Economics
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Cotton Production, Physiology and Economics 53 Cotton Genotypes Performance under Rainfed and Irrigated Conditions in two Regions of Northern Argentina Marcelo Paytas1 and Jose Tarrago2 1INTA EEA Reconquista, Santa Fe, (3560), Argentina 2INTA EEA Las Brenas, Chaco, (3722), Argentina E-mail: [email protected] Abstract—Narrow-row cotton production systems have became popular in Argentina in the last few years. It is mainly cultivated under rainfed conditions as a low input crop which is challenging and risky. Irrigation can improve the performance of current genotypes and may reduce the variability in yield produced under rainfed conditions across different environments. This research was aimed to understand the differences in growth, development and yield of two cotton cultivars in a narrow row system under rainfed and irrigated conditions. Experiments were conducted during 2010-11 under rainfed and irrigated conditions at the Research Station of INTA Reconquista, Santa Fe (29º11´S, 59º42’W) and INTA Las Brenas, Chaco (27º05´S, 61º06’W). The annual rainfall and its distribution, temperatures, evaporative demand and soil types differ between both cotton regions. The experimental design in each location was a split plot design with four replications: two genotypes (NuOpal and DP402) with two moisture levels (rainfed and irrigated). The results indicated differences between genotypes in terms of days to crop maturity. Earliness was found for DP402 for both locations compared with NuOpal. However, no significant differences in terms of phenology were found between rainfed and irrigated conditions due the amount of soil water content available from rainfall for the plant in both systems. Dry matter production and partitioning to reproductive organs was affected by genotypes and moisture levels. DP402 with shorter vegetative and reproductive stages produced significant differences in dry matter between moisture levels than NuOpal with later maturity. Percentage of fruit retention increased by maturity in DP402 compared with NuOpal under both rainfed and irrigated conditions, although NuOpal produced higher number of nodes and fruiting sites but higher fruit abortion in the lower part of the plant. INTRODUCTION Narrow-row cotton has become popular in Argentina in the last few years reaching about 90% of the national sowing area. By reducing distance between rows and increasing plant population, plants became smaller and harvested with stripper machines reducing harvesting costs compared with previous traditional cotton systems. Cotton is mainly cultivated under dryland conditions as a low input crop which is challenging and risky. However, irrigation practices can improve the current genotypes performances and may reduce the variability in yield. Changing row spacing and plant population has been used to increase yield in many other crops. By changing the spacing between plants, competition for light, water and nutrients is altered, which can change fruit number and retention per plant and the size of the plant (Bednarz, 2000). Due to the influence of environmental conditions on plant growth and development, specific row spacing and population recommendations for crops may vary. The optimum plant population for any crop is the population that maximizes yield while optimising resource use (Willey and Heath, 1969). Nowadays, Argentinean cotton farmers are mainly using 52 cm as row spacing and 220,000 plants per hectare. Whether this population is optimal or not to produce high yielding cotton with current Bt varieties is focus of numerous studies. Boll retention and distribution within a plant play an important role in determining final yield, and are linked to the allocation of assimilate produced during vegetative growth by the plant. If the availability of assimilate is adequate to support the developing bolls, then the bolls will be retained (Constable, 1991; Jenkins et al., 1990a). However, if the demand from growing bolls exceeds the assimilate supply, the retention of bolls will decline as a result of an increase in the boll shedding (Guinn, 1998; Mason, 1922). 310 World Cotton Research Conference on Technologies for Prosperity Most of the time, research has been done comparing different crop configuration, while in this work the aim was to maintain the same configuration and vary the inputs of water to increase source availability for maximizing cotton yield, using two different genotypes and two growing environmental conditions. Increased resource availability by irrigation may reduce the variability in yield produced under rainfed conditions across these different environments. This research was aimed to understand the differences in growth, development and yield of two cotton cultivars in narrow row systems under rainfed and irrigated conditions. MATERIAL AND METHODS Experiments were conducted during 2010-11 under rainfed and irrigated conditions at the Research Station of INTA Reconquista, Santa Fe (29º11´S, 59º42’W) and INTA Las Brenas, Chaco (27º05´S, 61º06’W), Argentina. The experimental design in each location was a split plot design with four replications: two cultivars (NuOpal and DP402) were sown at a spacing of 0.52 m between rows having 11 plants per meter. Two soil moisture treatments (irrigated and rainfed) were compared. In both the locations, irrigated plots received three irrigations at the time of flowering (about 90 mm in Las Brenas and 60 mm in Reconquista) besudes water from rainfall. Neutron moisture meter measurements were used to monitor soil moisture content (0-150 cm depth). Harvests for total biomass, biomass partitioning, radiation interception and yield, as well as mapping, were done at various developmental stages throughout the season. Meteorological conditions were recorded during the season. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The annual rainfall and its distribution, temperatures, evaporative demand and soil types differ between both cotton regions. Wetter conditions were found at Reconquista, Santa Fe compared with Las Brenas, Chaco. Differences between cultivars were observed in terms of days to crop maturity. Earliness was found for DP402 for both locations compared with NuOpal. However, no significant differences in terms of phenology were found between rainfed and irrigated conditions due the amount of soil water content available from rainfall for the plant in both systems. Dry matter production and partitioning to reproductive organs was affected by genotypes and moisture levels. DP402 with shorter vegetative and reproductive stages produced significant differences in dry matter production between moisture levels than NuOpal with later maturity. In both locations, similar responses were found in terms of dry matter production and partitioning to reproductive organs. Lower solar radiation interception was found in the lower part of the canopy in NuOpal. Possibly, the greater vegetative growth in NuOpal may have contributed to reduced boll growth and shedding of flowers and young bolls lower in the canopy due to poor light infiltration. Percentage of fruit retention in first fruit positions on the main stem increased by maturity in DP402 compared with NuOpal under both rainfed and irrigated conditions. NuOpal produced higher number fruits abortions in the lower part of the plant. It is likely that solar radiation and photosynthesis in low position fruiting sites become a limitation, with a bigger plant and complete canopy closure resulting in fruit abortions and decrease in the yield potential in conventional cropping systems (Constable and Rawson, 1980b; Wullschleger and Oosterhuis, 1990a; 1990b). The longer period to maturity in NuOpal may compensate after reproductive organs in the first few positions were aborted, with higher number of nodes and fruiting sites on lateral and upper part of the canopy, increasing final cotton yield in a wet season for both locations. However, DP402 with shorter vegetative and reproductive period produced higher seed cotton yields than NuOpal (Table 1) in both locations, with a better crop performance under narrow row systems in a subtropical environment with humid crop season. Cotton Genotypes Performance under Rainfed and Irrigated Conditions in two Regions of Northern Argentina 311 TABLE 1: SEED COTTON YIELD (KG*HA-1) FOR TWO GENOTYPES UNDER RAINFED AND IRRIGATED CONDITIONS FOR TWO LOCATIONS IN NORTH ARGENTINA Location: Reconquista, Seed Cotton yield (kg*ha-1) Location: Las Brenas, Chaco Seed Cotton yield (kg*ha-1) Santa Fe NuOpal-I 3.298 NuOpal-I 2.160 NuOpal-RF 3.045 NuOpal-RF 2.156 DP402-I 3.788 DP402-I 3.231 DP402-RF 3.540 DP402-RF 3.340 Significance * * I: Irrigated treatment RF: Rainfed treatment *Significance (P 0.05) REFERENCES [1] Bednarz, C.W., Bridges, D.C. and Brown, S.M. (2000) - Analysis of cotton yield stability across population densities. Agronomy Journal 92, 128-135. [2] Constable, G.A. and Rawson, H.M. (1980b) - Carbon production and utilization in cotton - inferences from a carbon budget. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 7: 539-553. [3] Constable, G.A. (1991) - Mapping the Production and Survival of Fruit on Field-Grown Cotton. Agronomy Journal 83: 374-378. [4] Guinn, G. (1998) - Causes of square and boll shedding. Beltwide Cotton Conferences, pp. 1355–1364. [5] Jenkins, J.N., McCarty, J.C. and Parrott, W.L. (1990) - Effectiveness of fruiting sites in cotton - yield. Crop Science 30: 365-369. [6] Mason, T.G. (1922) - Growth and abscission in Sea Island cotton. Annals of Botany 36: 457-484. [7] Willey, R. and Heath, S. (1969)