Reducing Costs and Optimizing the Timing of Agronomic Inputs for Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in North Carolina.
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Date
2009-10-01
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Abstract
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) grown in North Carolina requires intensive management for achieving optimal yields in an early-season environment. Recent increases in production costs require cotton producers to adopt practices that allow yield potential to be reached, while reducing input costs or optimizing the timing of agronomic inputs. Six experiments were conducted in North Carolina from 2006 to 2008 to investigate various production practices that could potentially reduce production costs and to define optimal timings of agronomic inputs. The first experiment investigated precision application of in-furrow insecticides for cotton planted in a hill-dropped configuration. The second experiment investigated application rates and timings of mepiquat chloride (MC) for cotton grown in conditions that promote excessive vegetative growth. The third experiment investigated the effects of MC applied at various rates and timings on the correlation (regression) between two techniques for measuring light interception and canopy coverage: the light quantum sensor method and the overhead digital imagery method. The fourth experiment investigated the effects of MC applied at physiological cutout, in terms of defoliation, regrowth, maturity, and yield. The fifth experiment investigated the effects of preconditioning defoliation treatments for tall cotton portraying dense canopies which improve standard defoliation practices and the timeliness of harvest. The sixth experiment investigated the effects of ethephon rate in defoliant mixtures on harvest date, with regard to defoliation timing and prior MC treatment.
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defoliation, mepiquat, insecticide, cotton
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Degree
PhD
Discipline
Crop Science
