Cover Crop Species Selection, Seeding Rate, and Termination Timing Impacts on Semi-Arid Cotton Production
By improving soil properties, cover crops can reduce wind erosion and sand damage to emerging cotton (<i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> L.) plants. However, on the Texas High Plains, questions regarding cover crop water use and management factors that affect cotton lint yield are common and limi...
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| Materiálatiipa: | Artihkal |
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MDPI AG
2024-07-01
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| Ráidu: | Agronomy |
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| Liŋkkat: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/7/1524 |
| _version_ | 1827179187366002688 |
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| author | Clayton David Ray White Joseph Alan Burke Katie Lynn Lewis Will Stewart Keeling Paul Bradley DeLaune Ryan Blake Williams Jack Wayne Keeling |
| author_facet | Clayton David Ray White Joseph Alan Burke Katie Lynn Lewis Will Stewart Keeling Paul Bradley DeLaune Ryan Blake Williams Jack Wayne Keeling |
| author_sort | Clayton David Ray White |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | By improving soil properties, cover crops can reduce wind erosion and sand damage to emerging cotton (<i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> L.) plants. However, on the Texas High Plains, questions regarding cover crop water use and management factors that affect cotton lint yield are common and limit conservation adoption by regional producers. Studies were conducted near Lamesa, TX, USA, in 2017–2020 to evaluate cover crop species selection, seeding rate, and termination timing on cover crop biomass production and cotton yield in conventional and no-tillage systems. The no-till systems included two cover crop species, rye (<i>Secale cereale</i> L.) and wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) and were compared to a conventional tillage system. The cover crops were planted at two seeding rates, 34 and 68 kg ha<sup>−1</sup>, and each plot was split into two termination timings: optimum, six to eight weeks prior to the planting of cotton, and late, which was two weeks after the optimum termination. Herbage mass was greater in the rye than the wheat cover crop in three of the four years tested, while the 68 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> seeding rate was greater than the low seeding rate in only one of four years for both rye and wheat. The later termination timing produced more herbage mass than the optimum in all four years. Treatments did not affect cotton plant populations and had a variable effect on yield. In general, cover crop biomass production did not reduce lint production compared to the conventional system. |
| first_indexed | 2025-03-21T05:11:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-db9da9f12f8b46f3b11ef04e16b8f9f8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-21T05:11:02Z |
| publishDate | 2024-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-db9da9f12f8b46f3b11ef04e16b8f9f82024-07-26T12:30:26ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952024-07-01147152410.3390/agronomy14071524Cover Crop Species Selection, Seeding Rate, and Termination Timing Impacts on Semi-Arid Cotton ProductionClayton David Ray White0Joseph Alan Burke1Katie Lynn Lewis2Will Stewart Keeling3Paul Bradley DeLaune4Ryan Blake Williams5Jack Wayne Keeling6Texas A&M AgriLife Research, 1102 E Drew. St., Lubbock, TX 79403, USATexas A&M AgriLife Research, 1102 E Drew. St., Lubbock, TX 79403, USATexas A&M AgriLife Research, 1102 E Drew. St., Lubbock, TX 79403, USATexas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, 1102 E Drew. St., Lubbock, TX 79403, USATexas A&M AgriLife Research, 11708 US-70 South, Vernon, TX 76384, USASchool of Veterinary Medicine, Texas Tech University, 7671 Evans Drive, Amarillo, TX 79106, USATexas A&M AgriLife Research, 1102 E Drew. St., Lubbock, TX 79403, USABy improving soil properties, cover crops can reduce wind erosion and sand damage to emerging cotton (<i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> L.) plants. However, on the Texas High Plains, questions regarding cover crop water use and management factors that affect cotton lint yield are common and limit conservation adoption by regional producers. Studies were conducted near Lamesa, TX, USA, in 2017–2020 to evaluate cover crop species selection, seeding rate, and termination timing on cover crop biomass production and cotton yield in conventional and no-tillage systems. The no-till systems included two cover crop species, rye (<i>Secale cereale</i> L.) and wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) and were compared to a conventional tillage system. The cover crops were planted at two seeding rates, 34 and 68 kg ha<sup>−1</sup>, and each plot was split into two termination timings: optimum, six to eight weeks prior to the planting of cotton, and late, which was two weeks after the optimum termination. Herbage mass was greater in the rye than the wheat cover crop in three of the four years tested, while the 68 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> seeding rate was greater than the low seeding rate in only one of four years for both rye and wheat. The later termination timing produced more herbage mass than the optimum in all four years. Treatments did not affect cotton plant populations and had a variable effect on yield. In general, cover crop biomass production did not reduce lint production compared to the conventional system.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/7/1524cover crops<i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> L.lint yield<i>Secale cereale</i> L.<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.conservation agriculture |
| spellingShingle | Clayton David Ray White Joseph Alan Burke Katie Lynn Lewis Will Stewart Keeling Paul Bradley DeLaune Ryan Blake Williams Jack Wayne Keeling Cover Crop Species Selection, Seeding Rate, and Termination Timing Impacts on Semi-Arid Cotton Production Agronomy cover crops <i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> L. lint yield <i>Secale cereale</i> L. <i>Triticum aestivum</i> L. conservation agriculture |
| title | Cover Crop Species Selection, Seeding Rate, and Termination Timing Impacts on Semi-Arid Cotton Production |
| title_full | Cover Crop Species Selection, Seeding Rate, and Termination Timing Impacts on Semi-Arid Cotton Production |
| title_fullStr | Cover Crop Species Selection, Seeding Rate, and Termination Timing Impacts on Semi-Arid Cotton Production |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cover Crop Species Selection, Seeding Rate, and Termination Timing Impacts on Semi-Arid Cotton Production |
| title_short | Cover Crop Species Selection, Seeding Rate, and Termination Timing Impacts on Semi-Arid Cotton Production |
| title_sort | cover crop species selection seeding rate and termination timing impacts on semi arid cotton production |
| topic | cover crops <i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> L. lint yield <i>Secale cereale</i> L. <i>Triticum aestivum</i> L. conservation agriculture |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/7/1524 |
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