Demonstration of No-Till Cotton Production Using Best Management Practices

Demonstration of No-Till Cotton Production Using Best Management Practices

Summary

In the Central Hill region of Mississippi, cotton yields range from low levels of 350-500 pounds to higher levels of 700-1000 pounds per acre. Cotton yield in this area is closely tied to tillage and fertilization practices. However, these practices vary widely among producers.
Conventional deep tillage has not been shown to be consistently beneficial to cotton growth and has been implicated in increased rates of erosion. In terms of fertilizer application, it is imperative that timing, amount and method of application suit local conditions in order to achieve adequate yields while maintaining environmental quality. Over the past few years, research has shown that adequate yields can be achieved without increasing input costs, through the implementation of no-till practices and the judicious use of fertilizers. The most successful farmers who have adopted these practices have achieved yields of 1000 pounds per acre or more by using no-till management and the proper balance of fertilizer nutrients.

Objectives
1.) Compare no-tillage and conventional-tillage treatments, with and without covers of winter wheat, on cotton.
2.) Demonstrate project results to area farmers in an annual field day.

Approach
The main problem being addressed in this project is finding a practical and successful approach to the selection of tillage and nutrient management systems for soils common to the Central Hill region of Mississippi. This project is expected to require three years because of the transition of the fields from their currently disturbed condition to a realistic no-till condition. The producer is in the process of testing local findings that show conventional deep tillage is not consistently beneficial to cotton growth and development.
The three experimental treatments used in this project include conventional tillage, no tillage with a winter wheat cover and no tillage with a cover of volunteer vegetation. The volunteer vegetation was comprised primarily of three species: henbit (Lamium amplexicaule), mouse ear chickweed (Cerastium vulgatum) and annual bluegrass (Poa annua). The harvested strips measured 0.765 acre. The results from the first year of the trial are as follow.

SEED COTTON YIELDS lbs/ac
Treatment 1st Pick 2nd Pick Total Est. Lint*

No-tillage/
wheat cover

No-tillage/
Volunteer veg.

Conventional
tillage

* The estimated lint yield per acre is based on a 36 percent lint turnout after ginning.

It is not unusual for the first year yields of no-till to be lower than those of conventional till. The fact that the no-till treatment with a winter cover of native vegetation produced the same yields as the conventional-till treatment leads the grower to believe it will do even better than conventional till next year.
Both no-till plots matured later than the conventionally tilled plot. The second picking from the no-till treatment with a wheat cover crop did not make up for the lower first picking, and the yield from this treatment was a little more than eight percent lower than the conventional tilled plot. However, the no-till plot with a cover of native vegetation exhibited the highest yield at second picking and exhibited a total yield equal to that of the conventionally tilled plot. The final data at the end of the project will provide a more comprehensive look at the yields in the various treatments.

Outreach
The proposed test area is adjacent to a heavily traveled local road, and farmers from the community are able to watch the project’s progress. Growers then discuss the project with the project cooperators to find out how the project is doing. Field days will be held during the second and third years of the project. Results of the test will also be published in local extension bulletins.