Studies on Growth and Yield of Bt Cotton under Conservation Tillage, Crop Residues and Supplemental Irrigation in Dryland

Abstract

Field experiments were carried out during 2011-12 and 2012-13 at Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Kumulur, Tamil Nadu, India on sandy loam soils to evaluate different tillage practices, crop residues and supplemental drip irrigation methods on growth and yield of Bt cotton. The experiments were laid out in a strip plot design with three replications. The main plot treatments were conventional tillage, minimum tillage without crop residue, minimum tillage with crop residue @ 5 t ha-1 and minimum tillage with crop residue @ 10 t ha-1 . Sub plot treatments were without irrigation (control), supplemental drip irrigation 4, 6, 8 and 10 times during the cropping period. The results revealed that minimum tillage with crop residue @ 10 t ha-1 + supplemental drip irrigation 10 times had recorded significantly higher growth, yield components and yield.