Water use and yields of cotton grown under wide-spaced furrow irrigation

Abstract

Research has shown that wide-spaced furrow irrigation can often produce acceptable yields of crops with less water than every-furrow irrigation. In some seasons wide-spaced will result in less yield because too little water may be applied, particularly if the season has low rainfall and high evaporative demand. Seven years of production studies with different seasonal amounts and timing of irrigation produced well fit functions relating yield and irrigation water for wide-spaced and every-furrow. Results showed that wide-spaced was 15% more efficient than every-furrow. They also showed that at the highest yield levels noted, the wide-spaced treatment would require 38% less water for the same yield of cotton. Also, a given water recharge of the soil produced a 48% greater yield if the water were applied as wide-spaced furrow irrigation than as every-furrow irrigation.