Enhancing crop and water productivity of Bt cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) through drip irrigation and fertigation in semi-arid environments of south-western Punjab
196 / 328
Keywords:
Bt cotton, Drip irrigation, Fertigation, Seed cotton yield, Water productivityAbstract
The experiment was conducted during 2019 and 2020 at Regional Research Station (Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab), Faridkot, Punjab to evaluate the impact of different drip irrigation and fertigation regimes on Bt cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) (cv. RCH 773 BGII). The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) comprised of 3 drip irrigation levels (60%, 80%, and 100% of ETc); 2 fertigation doses (75% and 100% of recommended nitrogen dose), along with two extra control treatments (surface flood irrigation with 105 kg N/ha and subsurface flood irrigation with 112.5 kg N/ha). Results revealed that surface drip irrigation significantly reduced water usage by 13.9–32.3% as compared to conventional surface flood irrigation, while seed cotton yield increased by 18.2–25.2%. Notably, subsurface drip fertigation (SSDF) (100% recommended level of nitrogen applied at 80% ETc) exhibited the potential to conserve about 8.9–25.7% of total water applied, besides boosting crop yield by 37.2%. In conclusion, this study elucidated better crop and water productivity with subsurface drip followed by surface drip irrigation as compared to traditional surface flood irrigation and manual fertilizer application. Therefore, adoption of drip irrigation systems for water and nitrogen application needs to be advocated for sustainable cotton cultivation.
Downloads
References
AICRP. 2021–22. ICAR-AICRP (Cotton) Annual Report (2021–22) ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Cotton, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. 641003https://aiccip.cicr.org.in/ CD_21_22/aicrp-full-2022.pdf
Anonymous. 2021–22. Package of Practices for Crops of Punjab (Kharif), Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab. https://www.pau.edu/content/ccil/pf/pp_kharif.pdf
Anusree G, Sakthivel N, Thiruvarassan S and Balamurugan J. 2020. Effect of drip fertigation on growth, yield parameters and fertilizer use efficiency of irrigated cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) under high density planting system. International Journal of Current Microbiological Applied Science 9(7): 2445–53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.907.287
Aujla M S, Thind H S and Buttar G. 2005. Cotton yield and water productivity at various levels of water and N through drip irrigation under two methods of planting. Agricultural Water Management 71(2): 167–79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2004.06.010
Bhalerao P D, Gaikwad G S and Imade S R. 2011. Productivity and nutrient uptake of Bt cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) as influenced by precision in application of irrigation and fertilizer. Indian Journal of Agronomy 56(2): 150–53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v56i2.4673
Brar S K, Mahal S S, Brar A S, Vashist K K, Sharma N and Buttar G S. 2012. Transplanting time and seedling age affect water productivity, rice yield and quality in north-west India. Agricultural Water Management 115: 217–22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2012.09.001
Dar E, Brar A, Mishra S K and Singh K. 2017. Simulating response of wheat to timing and depth of irrigation water in drip irrigation system using CERES- Wheat model. Field Crops Research 214: 149–63. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2017.09.010
Gladston K, Kodary A K and Velchala P. 2016. Drip irrigation regimes and fertigation levels influence on yield and yield attributes of Bt cotton. The Journal of Research PJTSAU 44(3): 72–75.
ICAC. 2021–22. International cotton advisory committee (ICAC)'s 80th Plenary meeting explores sustainability efforts for global cotton. https://icac. org/News/NewsDetails?NewsId=2414&YearId=2022
Jalota S K, Sood A, Chahal G B S and Choudhury B U. 2006. Crop water productivity of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)- wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) system as influenced by deficit irrigation, soil texture and precipitation. Agricultural Water Management 84: 137–46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2006.02.003
Kaur A and Brar A S. 2016. Influence of mulching and irrigation scheduling on productivity and water use of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) in north-western India. Irrigation Science 34: 261–69. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-016-0501-0
Kaur V, Mishra S K and Singh K. 2022. Dry matter partitioning in Bt and non Bt cotton cultivars under different sowing environments of Punjab. The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 92(12): 1469–74. doi:10.56093/ijas.v92i12.104323 DOI: https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v92i12.104323
Magare P N, Katkar R N and Jadhao S D. 2018. Effect of fertigation on yield, quality and soil fertility status under cotton grown in Vertisol. International Journal of Chemistry Studies 6(2): 42–46.
Mishra S K, Kaur V and Singh K. 2021. Evaluation of DSSAT- CROPGRO cotton model to simulate phenology, growth and seed cotton yield in north-western India. Agronomy Journal 113(5): 3975–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20788 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20788
Nalque D N, Deogirikar A, Konde N M and Damre P R. 2007. Performance of cotton under drip irrigation on Vertisols. Journal of Soils and Crop 17(2): 299–303.
Sahito A, Baloch Z A, Mahar A and Otho S A. 2015. Effect of water stress on the growth and yield of cotton crop (Gossypium hirsutum L.). American Journal of Plant Sciences 6: 1027–39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2015.67108
Sampathkumar T, Pandian B J, Rangaswamy M V, Manickasundaram P and Jeyakumar P. 2012. Influence of deficit irrigation
on growth, yield and yield parameters of cotton-maize cropping sequence. Agricultural Water Management 130(13): 90–102.
Singh K, Brar A S and Singh H P. 2018. Drip fertigation improves water and nitrogen use efficiency of Bt cotton. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 73(5): 549–57. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.73.5.549
Singh K, Choudhary O P, Singh H P, Singh A and Mishra S K. 2019. Sub-soiling improves productivity and economic returns of cotton-wheat cropping system. Soil and Tillage Research 189: 131–39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2019.01.013
Singh K, Mishra S K and Brar A S. 2023b. Optimizing sugarcane and water productivity through surface and subsurface drip fertigation in subtropical India. Sugar Tech 26(1): 63–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-023-01318-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-023-01318-4
Singh K, Singh H P and Mishra S K. 2020. Irrigation module and sowing date affect seed cotton yield, quality, productivity indices, and economics of cotton in north-western India. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 51(7): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2020.1744633 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2020.1744633
Singh K, Singh P, Singh M, Mishra S K, Iqbal R, Ashkar I A, Rahman M H, Sabagh A E, Raza M A, Khan S and Kumari V. 2022. Sub-surface drip fertigation improves seed cotton yield and monetary returns. Frontiers in Plant Science 13: 1038163. doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.1038163 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.1038163
Singh K, Singh P, Singh M and Brar A S. 2023. Sub-surface drip fertigation enhances seed cotton yield and economic returns in semi-arid environments. Agricultural Research Journal 60(1): 28–37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5958/2395-146X.2023.00006.6
Sujatha H T, Angadi S S, Yenagi B S and Meena R P. 2023. Effect of drip irrigation regimes on growth, yield and economics of maize (Zea mays) genotypes. The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 93(2): 163–68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v93i2.132048
Downloads
Submitted
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The copyright of the articles published in The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences is vested with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, which reserves the right to enter into any agreement with any organization in India or abroad, for reprography, photocopying, storage and dissemination of information. The Council has no objection to using the material, provided the information is not being utilized for commercial purposes and wherever the information is being used, proper credit is given to ICAR.