Response of normally sown and paired sown cotton to various quantities of water applied through drip system

Abstract

The field experiments were conducted for 2 years to evaluate the response of normally sown and paired sown cotton in terms of seed cotton yield and water use efficiency (WUE) at various levels of water applied through drip system. Drip irrigation under normal sowing resulted in an increase in seed cotton yield of 14 and 32% during first and second year, respectively, when same quantity of water was applied through drip and check-basin. Drip irrigation under dense paired sowing, in which the quantity of water applied was 75% as compared to drip under normal sowing, produced equal seed cotton yield during first year but yield increase of 27% was observed during second year. Drip irrigation under normal paired sowing, in which the quantity of water applied was 50% as compared with drip under normal sowing, resulted in a reduction in seed cotton yield of 11 and 15% than normal sowing during first and second year, respectively. However, at equal levels of water applied, dense paired sowing produced 12 and 23% higher seed cotton yield than normal sowing during first and second year, respectively. Similarly, normal paired sowing produced 6 and 14% higher seed cotton yield than normal sowing during first and second year, respectively, The present study revealed that dense paired sowing produced highest yield and water use efficiency along with reduction in cost owing to lower number of laterals required.