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Double Row and Single Row Planting Pattern Comparisons in Acala Cotton in the San Joaquin Valley

R.B. Hutmacher, M.P. Keeley, R. Delgado, S.D. Wright, G. Banuelos, R.N. Vargas, T. Martin-Duvall, B.L. Weir, A. Shrestha, D.S. Munk, J. Wroble, B.H. Marsh, D. Burns, C. Michael, H. Wu, and G. Replogle

ABSTRACT

A multi-location trial was conducted for five years across a range of sites and soil types in the San JoaquinValley of California to evaluate the potential of a change in cotton planting configuration on cotton yields and potential cost savings. The basic study involves comparisons done on 30 inch and 40 inch cotton beds, comparing yields under systems of single planted rows in the center of beds versus two planted rows per bed, with rows planted about 7 to 8.5 inches apart down the bed center. Objectives were to provide field evaluations across a broad range of soil types and production conditions and to determine the degree to which yield improvements noted in northern San Joaquin Valley studies could be reproduced in other areas and soil types within the valley. Over multiple years of trials, positive yield responses were much more consistent in the northern valley test locations, with inconsistent yield responses to double row plantings at other sites, where yield differences between single and double row plantings ranged from slight decreases to no change to slight increases. There were some consistent indications that crop earliness was affected with double row plantings, with 2 to 5 day earlier crop maturity noted across study sites. Although small plot studies indicated double row plantings yielded best at populations ranging from about 50,000 to 70,000 plants per acre, larger field studies at three locations indicated little consistent yield response within the plant population range of 40,000 to 85,000 plants per acre in double row plantings.





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Document last modified 04/27/04