Cotton Response to Subsoiling Frequency

Gordon R. Tupper, James G. Hamill, and H.C. Pringle, III


 
ABSTRACT

Subsoiling increases cotton yields on many soils when hardpans are fractured and the subsoil pH is conducive for good root growth. The best results are obtained when fall subsoiling is done on dry soils. Producers often run out of time and fail to finish subsoiling cotton land in the wetter fall and spring years. Thus, a 6-year study of subsoiling frequency was conducted on a Bosket and Souva silt loam soil at Stoneville, MS.

Double subsoiling, annual subsoiling, and subsoiling two out of three years increased lint and cottonseed yields over the non-subsoiled check during a 6-year (1982-87) study at Stoneville, MS. The average annual increases in lint yield ranged from a low of 26 lb/A for alternate year subsoiling to a high of 108 lb/A for double subsoiling annually when compared to the non-subsoiled check.

After cost of subsoiling and the additional costs of hauling and ginning were removed, the difference in annual income from the subsoiling frequency treatments ranged from $10.48 per acre for alternate year subsoiling to $45.45 per acre for annual subsoiling. Subsoiling two years out of three could be an alternative to annual subsoiling. However, the risk of not subsoiling in years such as 1982 could be very costly when subsoiling increased lint yields by 204 lb/A. All subsoiling treatments in the study increased income above costs. However, when risks and returns are both considered, annual subsoiling with the parabolic subsoiler was the best subsoiling treatment in this 6-year study at Stoneville.



Reprinted from Proceedings: 1989 Beltwide Cotton Research Conferences pp. 523 - 525
©National Cotton Council, Memphis TN

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Document last modified Sunday, Dec 6 1998