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Cotton and corn rotation under reduced tillage management: impacts on soil properties, weed control, yield, and net return

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Krishna N. Reddy ,
Martin A. Locke ,
Clifford H. Koger ,
Robert M. Zablotowicz  and
L. Jason Krutz
Martin A. Locke
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS, National Sedimentation Laboratory, Water Quality and Ecology Research Unit, P.O. Box 1157, Oxford, MS 38655
Clifford H. Koger
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS, Crop Genetics and Production Research Unit, P.O. Box 345, Stoneville, MS 38776
Robert M. Zablotowicz
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS, Southern Weed Science Research Unit, P.O. Box 350, Stoneville, MS 38776
L. Jason Krutz
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS, Southern Weed Science Research Unit, P.O. Box 350, Stoneville, MS 38776
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Abstract

A 6-yr rotation study was conducted from 2000 to 2005 at Stoneville, MS to examine the effects of rotating glyphosate-resistant (GR) and non-GR (conventional) cultivars of cotton with corn under reduced tillage conditions on soil properties, weed control, crop yield, and net return. There were four rotation systems (continuous cotton, continuous corn, cotton–corn, and corn–cotton) for each non-GR and GR cultivar arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Field preparation consisted of disking, subsoiling, disking, and bedding in the fall of 1999. After the fall of 2000, the experimental area received no tillage operations except rebedding after harvest each year to maintain reduced tillage conditions. A glyphosate-based program in GR cultivars and a nonglyphosate-based program in non-GR cultivars were used for weed management. Soil organic carbon in the top 5-cm depth progressively increased from the first year to the sixth year, regardless of rotation. In 2005, organic carbon was higher in corn grown continuously and in rotation compared to continuous cotton, partly due to higher plant residues from corn compared to cotton. Control of most grass and broadleaf weeds was sufficient to support cotton and corn production, regardless of rotation and herbicide program. Control of yellow nutsedge was reduced in continuous non-GR cotton; this apparent weed species shift toward yellow nutsedge was mitigated by breaking the cotton monocrop with corn. Plant populations of both GR and non-GR cotton rotated with corn were similar to that of continuous cotton suggesting cotton stand establishment was not affected by corn residues from the previous year. Cotton yield increased every year following rotation with corn by 10–32% in the non-GR cultivar, and by 14–19% in the GR cultivar compared to continuous cotton. Similarly, corn yield increased by 5–13% in non-GR cultivar and by 1–11% in the GR cultivar when rotated with cotton. As a result, net returns were higher from rotation management as compared with monoculture in both crops. This study demonstrated that alternating between cotton and corn is agronomically feasible and a sustainable option for farmers in the lower Mississippi River alluvial flood plain region who are looking for simple cultural practices that provide economic and environmental benefits.

Keywords

Glyphosatecorn, Zea mays L.cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L.yellow nutsedge, Cyperus esculentis L.Conservation tillagecrop rotationglyphosatemonoculturereduced tillagetransgenic cropsoil qualityweed management
Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Science , Volume 54 , Issue 4 , August 2006 , pp. 768 - 774
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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