Water Management of Trickle and Furrow Irrigated Narrow Row Cotton in the San Joaquin Valley

Abstract

TRICKLE and furrow irrigation were used on three field experiments on water management with narrow row (0.5 m) cotton. The experiments were conducted in the California San Joaquin Valley on Panoche clay loam soil from 1981 through 1983. The trickle irrigation regimes varied from two irrigations per week to one irrigation/2 weeks. The furrow irrigation regimes varied from no postplant irrigations to three seasonal irrigations. Lint yields ranged from 601 to 2,145 kg/ha. Total water application amounts (preplant and seasonal irrigations plus effective precipitation) of at least 650 mm were necessary to maximize lint production with the narrow rows at this location. Evapotranspiration was between 650 and 700 mm for maximum lint yields of 2,000 kg/ha. When verticillium wilt was not present, the lint yield of two newer Acala varieties (SJC-1 and DPL-90) was not better than the standard Acala variety (SJ-2). Trickle irrigation may reduce soil evaporation losses by as much as 75 to 100 mm when the irrigation tubing is spaced 2.0 m apart. No lint yield differences between trickle and furrow irrigation methods were found for narrow row cotton when irrigation management resulted in minimum soil water deficits.