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American Society of Agronomy
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Early Cotton Planting Requires Irrigation

Without irrigation, early-planted cotton fails to achieve yield improvements

MADISON, WI, September 9, 2010 – Cotton growers can produce more cotton if they plant early, but not without irrigation. That’s the finding of an article published in the September-October 2010 Agronomy Journal, a publication of the American Society of Agronomy.

Bill Pettigrew, a scientist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Stoneville, Mississippi, tested the performance of cotton under irrigated and non-irrigated plots, with half the plots being planted early (first week of April) and half being planted in the more tradition time period, around the 1st week of May.
 
Previous research indicated that planting earlier in the year increased cotton yields. This is likely because the peak blooming period shifts closer to the longest day of the year (in June), avoiding the typically drier months of the year, July and August. The additional sunlight associated with longer days also allows the plants to take in more sunlight during their growing season.
 
However, most of this research was done on irrigated crops. Pettigrew’s study found that while early planting does increase yield, it does so only with irrigation. Early planting increased cotton production in of two of the four years of the study with irrigation. However, the non-irrigated plots never saw increased production from early planting, and even saw a 13% decrease in yield one year.
 
Conducted from 2005-2008, the only year that irrigation did not increase yield was 2005, when the study area was hit by Hurricane Katrina.
 
Pettigrew concluded that early planting clearly needs irrigation to increase cotton yields. This attribute implies that if Mississippi Delta producers don’t have irrigation capabilities, they should probably not adopt an early planting strategy.
 
The results from this research can be used by cotton researchers, extension specialists, consultants and producers as an unbiased source of information to aid in making cotton production decisions.

Agronomy Journal is the flagship journal of the American Society of Agronomy. Articles convey original research in agriculture, natural resources, soil science, crop science, agroclimatology, agronomic modeling, production agriculture, and instrumentation.

The American Society of Agronomy is an international scientific and professional society with its headquarters in Madison, WI. Our members are researchers and trained, certified professionals in the areas of growing our world’s food supply, while protecting our environment. We work at universities, government research facilities and private businesses across the United States and the world.