Modeling management of continuous dryland cotton with an intervening winter wheat cover crop in a semiarid climate

Although winter cover crop residue can mitigate the stresses of dryland production in semi-arid regions, cover crops can also reduce soil moisture and cash crop yields. In some field studies of dryland cotton grown after terminated winter wheat in the U.S. Southern High Plains (SHP) and Texas Rollin...

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Main Authors: Steven A. Mauget, Sushil K. Himanshu, Tim S. Goebel, Srinivasulu Ale, Paxton Payton, Katie Lewis, R. Louis Baumhardt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.1043647/full
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author Steven A. Mauget
Sushil K. Himanshu
Tim S. Goebel
Srinivasulu Ale
Paxton Payton
Katie Lewis
R. Louis Baumhardt
author_facet Steven A. Mauget
Sushil K. Himanshu
Tim S. Goebel
Srinivasulu Ale
Paxton Payton
Katie Lewis
R. Louis Baumhardt
author_sort Steven A. Mauget
collection DOAJ
description Although winter cover crop residue can mitigate the stresses of dryland production in semi-arid regions, cover crops can also reduce soil moisture and cash crop yields. In some field studies of dryland cotton grown after terminated winter wheat in the U.S. Southern High Plains (SHP) and Texas Rolling Plains cotton yields were increased relative to continuous cotton, while others had no significant yield or soil water effect. These uncertain outcomes may be due to the trial's limited sampling of seasonal rainfall conditions. To estimate the probabilities of cover crop effects under more representative SHP climate conditions, 294 station-years of crop model simulations of terminated winter wheat followed by dryland cotton were conducted. These simulations were driven by weather data from 21 SHP weather stations during 2005–2019. Each station-year's simulations were repeated under 54 combinations of wheat planting, termination, and cotton planting dates, 2 soil series with different water capacities, and 10 initial soil moisture conditions. When simulations begin with fall soil moisture at field capacity optimal management options for both soils plant wheat early and cotton late, but have different wheat termination dates. Before cotton planting winter cover crop effects are dominated by reduced surface evaporation and increased transpiration, with greater transpiration effects producing decreased column soil moisture (CSM) at wheat termination. Some soil moisture recharge occurs between termination and cotton planting, but cover crops reduce CSM at cotton planting in both soils in ~75% of simulations. Reduced soil evaporation and soil moisture recovery continues after cotton planting, resulting in positive effects on seed cotton yield in 50% of the silty clay loam simulations and in 67% of the fine sandy loam simulations. Gradually reducing initial fall soil moisture in the silty clay loam reduces wheat biomass but increases the incidence of positive effects on seed cotton yields and CSM at cotton planting and harvest. By contrast, drier initial soil moisture in the fine sandy loam had relatively minor yield and CSM effects. In both soils terminated wheat residue led to increased CSM at cotton harvest in at least 70% of the simulations regardless of soil moisture at wheat planting.
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spelling doaj.art-428b10e99ffe4d80b6692550820e16de2022-12-22T04:40:03ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems2571-581X2022-12-01610.3389/fsufs.2022.10436471043647Modeling management of continuous dryland cotton with an intervening winter wheat cover crop in a semiarid climateSteven A. Mauget0Sushil K. Himanshu1Tim S. Goebel2Srinivasulu Ale3Paxton Payton4Katie Lewis5R. Louis Baumhardt6Plant Stress and Water Conservation Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Lubbock, TX, United StatesAsian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, ThailandPlant Stress and Water Conservation Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Lubbock, TX, United StatesTexas A&M AgriLife Research (Texas A&M University System), Vernon, TX, United StatesGoanna Ag, Goondiwindi, QLD, AustraliaTexas A&M University Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Lubbock, TX, United StatesConservation and Production Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Bushland, TX, United StatesAlthough winter cover crop residue can mitigate the stresses of dryland production in semi-arid regions, cover crops can also reduce soil moisture and cash crop yields. In some field studies of dryland cotton grown after terminated winter wheat in the U.S. Southern High Plains (SHP) and Texas Rolling Plains cotton yields were increased relative to continuous cotton, while others had no significant yield or soil water effect. These uncertain outcomes may be due to the trial's limited sampling of seasonal rainfall conditions. To estimate the probabilities of cover crop effects under more representative SHP climate conditions, 294 station-years of crop model simulations of terminated winter wheat followed by dryland cotton were conducted. These simulations were driven by weather data from 21 SHP weather stations during 2005–2019. Each station-year's simulations were repeated under 54 combinations of wheat planting, termination, and cotton planting dates, 2 soil series with different water capacities, and 10 initial soil moisture conditions. When simulations begin with fall soil moisture at field capacity optimal management options for both soils plant wheat early and cotton late, but have different wheat termination dates. Before cotton planting winter cover crop effects are dominated by reduced surface evaporation and increased transpiration, with greater transpiration effects producing decreased column soil moisture (CSM) at wheat termination. Some soil moisture recharge occurs between termination and cotton planting, but cover crops reduce CSM at cotton planting in both soils in ~75% of simulations. Reduced soil evaporation and soil moisture recovery continues after cotton planting, resulting in positive effects on seed cotton yield in 50% of the silty clay loam simulations and in 67% of the fine sandy loam simulations. Gradually reducing initial fall soil moisture in the silty clay loam reduces wheat biomass but increases the incidence of positive effects on seed cotton yields and CSM at cotton planting and harvest. By contrast, drier initial soil moisture in the fine sandy loam had relatively minor yield and CSM effects. In both soils terminated wheat residue led to increased CSM at cotton harvest in at least 70% of the simulations regardless of soil moisture at wheat planting.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.1043647/fullcrop yield modelingDSSATdryland cotton productionwinter cover cropsoil water effectsconservation agriculture
spellingShingle Steven A. Mauget
Sushil K. Himanshu
Tim S. Goebel
Srinivasulu Ale
Paxton Payton
Katie Lewis
R. Louis Baumhardt
Modeling management of continuous dryland cotton with an intervening winter wheat cover crop in a semiarid climate
Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
crop yield modeling
DSSAT
dryland cotton production
winter cover crop
soil water effects
conservation agriculture
title Modeling management of continuous dryland cotton with an intervening winter wheat cover crop in a semiarid climate
title_full Modeling management of continuous dryland cotton with an intervening winter wheat cover crop in a semiarid climate
title_fullStr Modeling management of continuous dryland cotton with an intervening winter wheat cover crop in a semiarid climate
title_full_unstemmed Modeling management of continuous dryland cotton with an intervening winter wheat cover crop in a semiarid climate
title_short Modeling management of continuous dryland cotton with an intervening winter wheat cover crop in a semiarid climate
title_sort modeling management of continuous dryland cotton with an intervening winter wheat cover crop in a semiarid climate
topic crop yield modeling
DSSAT
dryland cotton production
winter cover crop
soil water effects
conservation agriculture
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.1043647/full
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