Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T21:40:43.839Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Response of cotton to nitrogen and water in a tropical environment. III. Fibre quality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

A. B. Hearn
Affiliation:
Division of Land Use Research, CSIRO, Kimberley Research Station, Kununurra, W.A., Australia

Summary

In two experiments three dates for time of last irrigation were combined factorially with four rates of application of nitrogen fertilizer and two varieties of cotton. Early termination of watering (when the crop had set 70 bolls/m2) combined with heavy application of nitrogen (168and225 kg/ha) decreased fibre strength, micronaire and yarn strength, particularly in 1973. In two other experiments three frequencies of watering were combined factorially with several rates of application of nitrogen. Frequent watering (weekly) combined with heavy application of nitrogen (168 kg/ha) decreased uniformity of fibre length, micronaire and yarn strength and appearance. In both experiments application of nitrogen increased fibre length. The responses of both varieties were similar except for effect of nitrogen on micronaire. Application of nitrogen decreased the micronaire of Deltapine 16 more than that of Acala 1517 BRI.

The response of the fibre properties to variation in crop nitrogen and water supplies are interpreted in terms of the effects of these factors on (i) the intrinsic fibre properties of bolls maturing at the same time, (ii) the change in the fibre properties of bolls maturing progressively later in the season, (iii) the proportion of total yield contributed by bolls maturing at different times and (iv) delay in harvest and consequent variation in exposure to weather prior to harvest. Yarn strength did not respond as much as fibre properties to the experimental treatments and in particular did not reflect the influence of weathering on fibre properties to the degree anticipated.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

A.S.T.M. (1967). American Society for Testing and Materials Committee D-13, Standards on Textile Materials. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Basinski, J. J., Robinson, G. & Thomson, N. J. (1973). Preharvest weathering of cotton under mechanized production in a tropical area. Cotton Growing Review 50, 193217.Google Scholar
Evenson, J. P. (1969). Seasonal variation in commercial cotton quality in the Ord Valley, North Western Australia. Cotton Growing Review 46, 189–96.Google Scholar
Gipson, J. R. & Ray, L. L. (1970). Temperaturevariety interrelationships in cotton. 1. Boll and fibre development. Cotton Growing Review 47, 257–71.Google Scholar
Hearn, A. B. (1975 a). Response of cotton to water and nitrogen in a tropical environment. I. Frequency of watering and method of application of nitrogen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 84, 407–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hearn, A. B. (1975 b). Response of cotton to water and nitrogen in a tropical environment. II. Date of last water and rate of application of nitrogen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 84, 419–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hearn, A. B. (1975c). An economic assessment of the response of cotton to nitrogen and water in the Ord Valley, north Western Australia. Cotton Growing Review 52, 165–88.Google Scholar
Hesketh, J. D. & Low, A. (1968). Effect ot temperature on components of yield and fibre quality of cotton varieties of diverse origins. Cotton Growing Review 45, 243–57.Google Scholar
Jackson, J. E. & Faulkner, R. C. (1962). Studies in the quality of Gezira cotton. 1. The relationship between quality and crop earliness. Empire Journal of Experimental Agriculture 30, 192206.Google Scholar
Jackson, J. E., Faulkner, R. C. & Dutta, Roy D. K. (1962). Studies in the quality of Gezira cottons. II. The effect of site, nitrogen and spacing on seed cotton grade. Empire Journal of Experimental Agriculture 30, 207–14.Google Scholar
Jackson, J. E., Faulkner, R. C. & Schultz, L. R. (1967). Studies on the sowing date of cottons in the Sudan Gezira. III. The effect of sowing dates on yield and quality under different fertilizer and spraying treatments. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 69, 329–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lord, E. (1955). Air flow through plugs of textile fibres. II. The micronaire test for cotton. Shirley Institute Memoires 28, 289320.Google Scholar
Lord, E. (1962). Difficulties in cotton and spinning tests and pitfalls in interpreting the results. Cotton Growing Review 39, 3856.Google Scholar
Thomson, N. J. (1965). Cotton variety trials in the Ord valley, north Western Australia. 3. Effect of time of sowing on varieties of different maturity. Cotton Growing Review 42, 263–78.Google Scholar
Wilson, A. G. L., Basinski, J. J. & Thomson, N. J. (1972). Pests, crop damage and control practices with irrigation cotton in a tropical environment. Cotton Growing Review 49 308–40Google Scholar