Abstract
No-tillage has been used for mitigating wind erosion on the Southern High Plains US for decades. This study investigated the effects of tillage and nitrogen (N) fertilizer timing on cotton lint yield, fiber quality, and seed N content during a three-year transition from conventional tillage (CT) to a no-tillage system both with a wheat (Triticum aestivum) cover crop (NTW) and without a cover crop (NT). Lint yield was different between tillage systems within each year with the NTW system producing greater lint yield than the CT system in the second and third year of the transition period. The concentration of cotton seed N was not different within years, although it was decreased in the no N added control in the third year. Cotton fiber strength was increased in the NTW system compared to the CT system in the second year of the study. However, the CT system produced increased fiber strength compared to the other two systems in 2018 and is likely the result of late-season weather conditions. It was determined that implementing a NTW system may increase lint yield within the first few years and has no effect on most fiber quality parameters, especially in environmentally challenging conditions.
Highlights
The first tillage implements brought to the Southern High Plains (SHP; MLRA 77C) [1] to manage soil included the moldboard plow, which allowed crop production on the mixed grass prairies of the SHP and turned them into highly productive soils [2]
Government agencies have been established across the USA since the Dust Bowl to promote the use of less intensive forms of soil management and the use of cover crops to reduce the effects of wind erosion [5]
Cotton is the predominant crop grown on the SHP, with production reaching over three million bales in 2017 [7], with a standard US cotton bale weight of 217.7 kg, this amounts to over 650 million kg cotton lint produced on the SHP in 2017
Summary
The first tillage implements brought to the Southern High Plains (SHP; MLRA 77C) [1] to manage soil included the moldboard plow, which allowed crop production on the mixed grass prairies of the SHP and turned them into highly productive soils [2]. Intensive tillage of soil on the SHP combined with a period of intense drought, led to extreme cases of wind erosion in the period known as the Dust Bowl [3]. Wind erosion has reportedly caused up to a 40% reduction in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) lint yield [4], and under certain conditions, such as extremely high wind speeds and blowing soil, it can cause total crop failure. Government agencies have been established across the USA since the Dust Bowl to promote the use of less intensive forms of soil management and the use of cover crops to reduce the effects of wind erosion [5]. The cotton produced on the SHP in 2017 accounted for about
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