Growth and yield data for the Bushland, Texas cotton datasets

Authors: Evett, Steven - Steve; Marek, Gary; Copeland, Karen; HOWELL, SR, TERRY - Retired ARS Employee; Colaizzi, Paul; BRAUER, DAVID - Retired ARS Employee; Ruthardt, Brice

Submitted to: Ag Data Commons
Publication Type: Database / Dataset
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/10/2023
Publication Date: 8/10/2023
Citation: Evett, S.R., Marek, G.W., Copeland, K.S., Howell, Sr, T.A., Colaizzi, P.D., Brauer, D.K., Ruthardt, B.B. 2023. Growth and yield data for the Bushland, Texas cotton datasets. Ag Data Commons. https://doi.org/10.15482/usda.adc/1529408.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15482/usda.adc/1529408

Interpretive Summary: The scarcity of water resources in the U.S. Southern High Plains is of regional, national, and even international concern due to the fact that the region acts as a breadbasket for the nation and world. The majority of agricultural production in this region depends on irrigation, largely dependent on pumping from the Ogallala or High Plains Aquifer, which are yielding less water every year. Scientists at the USDA ARS Conservation & Production Research Laboratory at Bushland, Texas, collected data that can be used to calculate crop water use, yield, and crop water productivity under irrigated and dryland conditions in the region’s climate, and regionally specific crop coefficients for irrigation scheduling, including reduced coefficients for subsurface drip irrigation that can save water. In the 2000 through 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2020 seasons, cotton was grown on from one to four large, precision weighing lysimeters, each in the center of a 4.44 ha square field also planted to cotton. This dataset consists of periodic and final cotton growth and yield data for each year. These data have not been previously publicly available in a readily useable format. Thus, the scientific team has prepared these unique data sets for sharing with other scientists and the general public on the USDA National Agricultural Library online data sharing library. These data sets have already been used along with crop water use data, to calculate crop water productivity, and crop coefficients to guide irrigation scheduling and water planning locally and regionally. Public accessibility via the USDA National Agricultural Library will increase their use by other researchers developing more capable water management tools and crop water use and yield computer models.

Technical Abstract: This dataset consists of growth and yield data for each season when upland cotton [Gossympium hirsutum (L.)] was grown for lint and seed at the USDA-ARS Conservation and Production Research Laboratory (CPRL), Soil and Water Management Research Unit (SWMRU), Bushland, Texas (Lat. 35.186714°, Long. -102.094189°, elevation 1170 m above MSL). In the 2000 through 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2020 seasons, cotton was grown on from one to four large, precision weighing lysimeters, each in the center of a 4.44 ha square field also planted to cotton. The square fields were themselves arranged in a larger square with four fields in four adjacent quadrants of the larger square. Fields and lysimeters within each field were thus designated northeast (NE), southeast (SE), northwest (NW), and southwest (SW). Cotton was grown on different combinations of fields in different years. When irrigated, irrigation was by linear move sprinkler system years before 2014, and by both sprinkler and subsurface drip irrigation in 2020. Irrigation protocols described as full were managed to replenish soil water used by the crop on a weekly or more frequent basis as determined by soil profile water content readings made with a neutron probe to 2.4-m depth in the field. Irrigation protocols described as deficit typically involved irrigation at rates established as percentages of full irrigation ranging from 33% to 75% depending on the year. The growth and yield data typically include plant population density, height, plant row width, leaf area index, growth stage, total above-ground biomass, leaf and stem biomass, boll mass (when present), lint mass, seed mass, final yield, and lint quality. Data are from replicate samples in the field and non-destructive (except for final harvest) measurements on the weighing lysimeters. In most cases yield data are available from only manual sampling on replicate plots in each field and lysimeters. These datasets originate from research aimed at determining crop water use (ET), crop coefficients for use in ET-based irrigation scheduling based on a reference ET, crop growth, yield, harvest index, and crop water productivity as affected by irrigation method, timing, amount (full or some degree of deficit), agronomic practices, cultivar, and weather. Prior publications have focused on cotton ET, crop coefficients, crop water productivity, and simulation modeling of crop water use, growth, and yield. Crop coefficients have been used by ET networks. The data have utility for testing simulation models of crop ET, growth, and yield and have been used for testing, and calibrating models of ET that use satellite and/or weather data.