ABSTRACT

Water Supplies are becoming more scarce and expensive in the irrigated West. Late season deficit irrigation has been shown to be one of the best approaches to in-season water savings with a minimal impact on lint yield. A wide range of responses to water deficits has been noted regarding individual Acala cotton varieties. These tests confirm differential variety responses to late season water deficits. Significant yield responses were observed for irrigation treatments having the same quantity of ate, but with varied timing of the final irrigation. Irrigation effects differed depending on year, due to the degree of water deficit. An irrigation timing and Acala variety interaction was observed. Acala's SJ2, Maxxa and DP6166 showed increased yields from terminating irrigations in week 3 versus week 1, while Acala's GC510 and Royale showed decreasing yields.