Effect of Irrigation and Planting Patterns on Yield, Quality and Economic Return of Winter Wheat-cotton Cropping System

Abstract

【Objective】 Winter wheat-cotton rotation is a common cultivation in Yellow River Basin in China, but they have an overlapped growing period. How to plant the cotton to make most of above- and below-ground resources is an issue that is not well understood. This paper aims to investigate how planting and irrigation combine to modulate growth, yields, quality and economic return of the two crops. 【Method】 The experiment was conducted in a field, with the cotton either directly drilled before the wheat was harvested or transplanted from a seedling bed after wheat harvest. We compared three irrigations: border irrigation, micro-sprinkling hose irrigation and surface drip irrigation. 【Result】 Transplantation improved leaf area index (LAI) and yield of the winter wheat, as well as the net income of winter wheat compared with directly drilling, despite a 5.64% reduction in cotton yield; overall, its total net income was 8.64% higher than the directly drilling. Compared with border irrigation and micro-sprinkling hose irrigation, surface drip irrigation significantly improved the plant height, LAI, yield and economic return of the two crops. The total net income of surface drip irrigation was 36.01% and 10.10% higher than that of border irrigation and micro-sprinkling hose irrigation, respectively. Transplantation combined with surface drip irrigation gave the highest net income at 15 924.9 yuan/hm2. 【Conclusion】 Transplanting cotton seedling after harvesting the winter wheat combined with surface drip irrigation reduces their competition for resources and is therefore optimal for wheat-cotton rotation in the Yellow River Basin.

Keywords

• wheat cotton interplanting
• transplanting cotton after wheat harvest
• border irrigation
• micro-sprinkling hose irrigation
• surface drip irrigation
• net profit