Abstract
BackgroundWithin-canopy interception of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) impacts yield and other agronomic traits in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Field experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of 6 cotton varieties (they belong to 3 different plant types) on yield, yield distribution, light interception (LI), LI distribution and the relationship between yield formation and LI in Anyang, Henan, in 2014 and 2015.ResultThe results showed that cotton cultivars with long branches (loose-type) intercepted more LI than did cultivars with short branches (compact-type), due to increased LI in the middle and upper canopy. Although loose-type varieties had greater LI, they did not yield significantly higher than compact-type varieties, due to decreased harvest index. Therefore, improving the harvest index by adjusting the source-to-sink relationship may further increase cotton yield for loose-type cotton. In addition, there was a positive relationship between reproductive organ biomass accumulation and canopy-accumulated LI, indicating that enhancing LI is important for yield improvement for each cultivar. Furthermore, yield distribution within the canopy was significantly linearly related to vertical LI distribution.ConclusionTherefore, optimizing canopy structure of different plant type and subsequently optimizing LI distribution within the cotton canopy can effectively enhance the yield.
Highlights
Within-canopy interception of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) impacts yield and other agronomic traits in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)
The optimal cotton yield was achieved by J958 and L28 in 2014 and by J228 in 2015, indicating the different performance of cotton cultivars in different environments
This study demonstrated the effects of cotton cultivar and plant type on cotton yield, yield distribution, light interception (LI), LI distribution, and the relationship between yield and LI
Summary
Within-canopy interception of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) impacts yield and other agronomic traits in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). The capacity of the crop canopy to intercept and efficiently use solar radiation can greatly influence crop growth and development. Crop yield is highly correlated with canopy light interception, leaf area index (LAI) and above ground biomass in vegetables, soybeans, maize, sorghum, cotton and rice (Mo et al 2005; Zarate-Valdez et al 2012). The amount of light intercepted by the canopy and Radiation Use Efficiency (RUE), which is the efficiency of converting the captured radiation into biomass, are crucial elements for crop production and development (Louarn et al 2008). PAR interception can be altered by canopy construction (Barthélémy and Caraglio 2007) and leaf area (Vargas et al 2002). In-depth exploration of the precise characteristics of light distribution in a crop canopy is necessary for improving crop productivity
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