Effect of Irrigation Patterns on Accumulation and Distribution of Dry Matter,Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Cotton in Southern Hebei

Objective] This study examines how irrigation patterns affect soil moisture, growth and yield of cotton in southern Hebei, China. The results are used to inform irrigation patterns and improve the water use efficiency of cotton. Method] Using the Nongda 601 cotton variety, a field split plot experiment was conducted in 2016 and 2017. The main treatments were no film (NF) and mulching film (MF), with side treatments of border irrigation (W1, 600 m³·hm^-2), limited amount every-other furrow irrigation I (W2, 450 m³·hm^-2) and limited amount every-other furrow irrigation II (W3, 300 m³·hm^-2). Six treatments NFW1, NFW2, NFW3, MFW1, MFW2, and MFW3 were applied. The film-covered border irrigation represents the conventional cultivation mode of local cotton. Impacts were measured as dry matter mass, yield and water use efficiency. Result] (1) Dry matter mass of MF was significantly higher than that of NF in 2016 and 2017. However, there was no significant difference in different irrigation treatments under MF. When compared with the dry matter mass of NFW1 in 2016, that of NFW2 and NFW3 were significantly lower: by 14.28% and 13.44%, respectively. In 2017, the dry matter quality of NFW2 significantly increased by 11.29% compared with that of NFW1, but NFW3 showed no significant difference. (2) Cotton yield and water use efficiency showed similar trends in both years. There was no significant difference in yield and water use efficiency for the different irrigation treatments under MF. Compared with NFW1, NFW2 and NFW3 significantly decreased by 10.21%–16.00% and 13.63%–18.84% in yield, respectively, whereas water use efficiency significantly decreased by 8.33%–13.80% and 9.72%–14.61%, respectively. Compared with MFW1, yield and water use efficiency of NFW1 decreased slightly, but not significantly. Compared with MFW2, yield and water use efficiency of NFW2 significantly decreased 12.96%–16.62% and 13.73%–16.51%, respectively. Compared with MFW3, yield and water use efficiency of NFW3 significantly decreased 15.04%–16.29% and 15.03%–16.31%, respectively. Conclusion] In wet and normal precipitation years, the NFW1 treatment resulted in high cotton yield while preventing residual film pollution; MFW2 and MFW3 treatments also achieved high yields and improved water use efficiency when irrigation quantity was reduced.