Organic Liquid Fertilizer Coupled With Single Application of Chemical Fertilization Improves Growth, Biomass, and Yield Components of Cotton Under Mulch Drip Irrigation.

Excessive fertilization, low nutrient utilization rate, and continuous deterioration of cotton field environment have adversely affected the sustainable development of cotton in Xinjiang province of China. To overcome these issues, we hypothesized that an appropriate combination of liquid organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer (CF) would effectively reduce the input of CF without sacrificing the quality and yield of cotton. A 2-year field experiment explores the effects of three fertilization treatments on the growth, biomass accumulation, and yield of cotton. The three fertilization treatments, namely, no application of fertilizer (CK), the single application of CF, and the combined application of organic liquid fertilizer and CF (F0.6-F1.4), were set up in five ratios. Compared with CF treatment, the combined application of organic liquid fertilizer and CF treatments (F0.6-F1.2) speeded the growth period of cotton by 2-7 days with increased plant height, stem diameter, functional leaf width, and more number of branches, with 9.7-23.5 and 8.4-28.5% higher total plant biomass (TPB) and reproductive organs biomass (ROB), respectively. Compared with CF treatment, the rapid growth duration and maximum accumulation rate of reproductive organs were the highest in F0.8 treatment, with an average increase of 4.6 days and 20.3%. Increment in biomass accumulation contributed to an average increase of 21.8 and 18.9% in cotton boll number and yield, respectively, under F0.8 treatment. Principal component analysis shows that the total biomass, ROB, and total bolls per unit area were positively correlated with the yield, while stem diameter and vegetative organ biomass are negatively correlated with the yield. In conclusion, under film mulching with drip irrigation, organic liquid fertilizer combined with CF reduced by 20% (F0.8 treatment: N, P2O5, and K2O were 182, 104, and 76 kg hm-2, respectively) can sustain the normal growth, promote the accumulation rate of ROB, and lead to efficient cotton production.

[Research of influence factors on spectral recognition for cotton leaf infected by Verticillium wilt].

Through carrying out spectral test experiment, the influence factors of spectrum test were analyzed, the influence degree of various factors in spectral recognition was explicated and the method of spectra test was optimized for cotton leaf infected by verticillium wilt. The results indicated that under different severity levels, the shape and value of reflectance of disease symptoms part were Significantly higher than healthy part on cotton leaf, compared with the black board as baseboard, the spectral values of disease leaves were slightly higher in visible light wavebands and significantly higher in others wavebands than healthy leaves on white baseboard. Different position of leaf on cotton plant has different effect degree to the recognition of disease, the effect of stem leaf was more obvious than that of else leaf, the identical leaf position was less influenced by disease than band. Test time and cotton varieties had less influence on recognizing disease by spectra, and the effect of the same condition was acceptable. Test site had no effect on disease recognition by spectra. The effect of each factor was different for recognizing disease leaf by spectra, and this study will provide reference for the researchers of crop disease diagnosis by spectra.

[Effects of drought and re-watering on endogenous hormone contents of cotton roots and leaves under drip irrigation with mulch].

Under the climatic and ecological conditions of Xingjiang, Northwest China, different degrees of drought stress were installed during the growth stages of cotton, and the drip irrigation with mulch was adopted, aimed to study the effects of drought stress and re-watering on the endogenous hormones (abscisic acid, ABA; and zeatins, ZRs) contents of cotton roots and leaves and the stomatal conductance (gs) of cotton leaves. With the increase of drought stress at different growth stages, the ABA contents of cotton roots and leaves increased, while the ZRs contents of cotton roots and leaves and the gsand photosynthetic rate (Pn) of cotton leaves decreased, with greater decrements in the treatment of soil moisture content being 40% -45% of field capacity at early flowering-full flowering stage. After re-watering, the ABA contents of cotton roots and leaves d:d not have a decrease with the improvement of soil moisture regime, while the ZRs contents of cotton roots recovered rapidly or exceeded the control after 1-3 days of re-watering. There was a positive correlation between the ZRs contents of cotton roots and the gs of cotton leaves. In the treatment of soil moisture content being 50% -55% of field capacity at full budding-early flowering stage, the ZRs contents and gs of cotton leaves recovered more quickly and with greater increments. It was suggested that the higher ZRs contents of cotton roots after re-watering could be the main cause for the higher stomatal conductance and photosynthetic rate of cotton leaves.