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Title: IRRIGATED COTTON LINT YIELDS AS AFFECTED BY PHOSPHORUS FERTILIZER AND LANDSCAPE POSITION

Author
item BRONSON, K - TEXAS A&M UNIV
item BOOKER, J - TEXAS A&M UNIV
item LASCANO, R - TEXAS A&M UNIV
item Torbert, Henry - Allen
item ONKEN, A - TEXAS A&M UNIV

Submitted to: Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/17/2001
Publication Date: 11/20/2001
Citation: Bronson, K.F., Booker, J.D., Lascano, R.J., Torbert, H.A., Onken, A.B. Irrigated cotton lint yields as affected by phosphorus fertilizer and landscape position. Communication in Soil Science Plant Analysis. 2001. v. 32(11&12). p. 1959-1967.

Interpretive Summary: Phosphorus is the second most important nutrient in cotton production after nitrogen. Response to P fertilizer, however, is often hard to predict in the Southern High Plains, even with soil test-based applications. The objective of this study was to determine if landscape position could be used to predict P fertilizer response in irrigated cotton. Cotton lint response to P fertilizer changed as the position on the landscape changed. The results suggests that yield potential is higher in lower landscape positions because of more favorable soil water relations. This indicates that variable rate fertilizer applications could be linked to management zones based on landscape position for fertilizer cotton in the Southern High Plains.

Technical Abstract: Phosphorus is the second most important nutrient in cotton production after nitrogen. Response to P fertilizer, however, is often hard to predict even with soil test-based applications. Landscape position has a strong influence on yields and perhaps on fertilizer response as well. The objective of this 5-year study (1994 to 1998) was to determine P fertilizer response in irrigated cotton in different landscape positions. We used an 825-m transect of end to end 15-m plots across a broad swale in an Amarillo fine sandy loam in Lamesa, TX that included three landscape positions, sideslope, bottomslope and drainageway. A randomized complete block design was used with 11 replicates and 5 P rates (0, 22.4, 33.6, 44.8, and 56 kg P ha**-1). Linear or quadratic response to P fertilizer in 3 of 5 years was observed, and an effect of landscape position in 4 of 5 years. Four-year lint yield averages were 1355 kg ha**-1 in the bottomslope of the landscape, and 1210 and 1226 kg ha**-1 on the sideslopes and in the drainageway, respectively. Cross-correlation using the 55 plots as a transect revealed few effects of soil properties on lint yield, but negative correlation between yield and elevation. In 1997, the one year without a landscape effect on yield, more rain fell than in the other 4 years. This suggests that yield potential is higher in lower landscape positions because of more favorable soil water relations. Cotton lint response to P fertilizer was evident only in the bottomslopes and in the drainageway, and was absent in the sideslopes, meaning that variable rate fertilizer applications could be linked to management zones based on landscape position.