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The experiment was conducted during 2019 and 2020 at Regional Research Station (Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab), Faridkot, Punjab to evaluate the impact of different drip irrigation and fertigation regimes on Bt cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) (cv. RCH 773 BGII). The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) comprised of 3 drip irrigation levels (60%, 80%, and 100% of ETc); 2 fertigation doses (75% and 100% of recommended nitrogen dose), along with two extra control treatments (surface flood irrigation with 105 kg N/ha and subsurface flood irrigation with 112.5 kg N/ha). Results revealed that surface drip irrigation significantly reduced water usage by 13.9–32.3% as compared to conventional surface flood irrigation, while seed cotton yield increased by 18.2–25.2%. Notably, subsurface drip fertigation (SSDF) (100% recommended level of nitrogen applied at 80% ETc) exhibited the potential to conserve about 8.9–25.7% of total water applied, besides boosting crop yield by 37.2%. In conclusion, this study elucidated better crop and water productivity with subsurface drip followed by surface drip irrigation as compared to traditional surface flood irrigation and manual fertilizer application. Therefore, adoption of drip irrigation systems for water and nitrogen application needs to be advocated for sustainable cotton cultivation.

Abstract Sustainable use and efficient management of water as an agricultural input have become a major global challenge. Agriculture consumes 70% of global freshwater sources, of which cotton alone is consuming 11%, and thus necessitates for appropriate water and fertilizer savvy strategies such as drip irrigation and fertigation. Drip irrigation has slowly progressed from being a novelty in 1960s to be now an accepted method among farmers. However, documented information on progress of drip fertigation in cotton over the last two decades is little available. In this global review, we have summarized a total of 124 studies not only from developed countries like China, USA but also from developing countries like India, and the Middle East showcasing the adoption and practice of drip fertigation in major cotton growing regions over the last 20 years, besides its role in improving productivity and rational resource use in a sustainable manner. Present findings reveal that drip fertigation could save 20–30% fertilizer and around 50–60% of water besides improving cotton yield. However, despite distinguished advantages, its adoption is limited in most of developing countries with the main impediment being the high initial investment. The area in India alone can be increased 15 folds as compared to present acreage under drip, which can translate into huge saving of water and fertilizer resources. Since, the long-term benefits can help to compensate for the initial cost, farmer friendly policies are required to popularize this technology. While providing quantitative evidence of the significant water and fertilizer savings achieved through drip fertigation, this study could significantly contribute to the existing body of knowledge besides helping to reduce water footprint of cotton across the globe.

This comprehensive two-year field study investigates the transformative potential of sub-surface drip fertigation (SSDF) as a sustainable alternative to traditional surface flood irrigation coupled with manual nutrient broadcasting in the cotton-wheat cropping system (CWCS). The field experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with combination of two lateral depths (25±2.5 and 30±2.5 cm) and two emitter spacings (30 and 40 cm) in main plots and four fertigation schedules [100% Recommended nitrogen (RDN)-112.5 kg N ha−1) and 125%RDN in 10 &14 equal splits (cotton); 100% Recommended nitrogen and phosphorus (RDNP)-125:62.5 kg NP ha−1) and 80%RDNP in 08 & 10 equal splits (wheat)] in sub plots.Two additional control treatments i.e., C1[Surface flood (SF) irrigation with 100%RDN (105 kg N ha−1 for cotton), 100%RDNP (125:62.5 kg NP ha−1for wheat) applied through manual broadcasting] and C2[SSDF at 20±2.5 cm depth, 20 cm emitter spacing, and 100%RDN for cotton(112.5 kg N ha−1) in 10 equal splits, and 80%RDNP for wheat (100:50 kg NP ha−1) applied in 8 equal splits] were also studied.Results revealed an 18.6% improvement in CWCS productivity under SSDF, when cotton and wheat were fertigated with 125%RDN in 14 equal splits and 100%RDNP in 10 equal splits, respectively in comparison to 100%RDN in 10 equal splits (cotton) and 80%RDNP in 08 equal splits (wheat). Furthermore, lateral placement (25±2.5 cm) depth with emitter spacing (30 cm), and fertigation [125%RDN in 14 equal splits (cotton) and 100%RDNP in 10 equal splits (wheat)] improved crop, irrigationand total water productivity indices by 1.3, 3.1, and 2.1 folds, respectively as compared to SF (C1). Moreover, improvednet returns by 18.7–52.0%was also evident with a SSDF of 100%RDN in 14 equal splits and 80%RDNP in 10 equal splits in cotton and wheat.These findings elucidated that SSDF with drip lateral placement at 25±2.5 cm depth, having an emitter spacing of 30 cm, and fertigation of 125%RDN (140 kg N ha−1) in 14 equal splits(cotton); 100%RDNP (125:62.5 kg NP ha−1) in 10 equal splits (wheat) could be a novel water-savvy concept in sustaining the yield and water productivity of cotton-wheat cropping system under arid agro-ecosystems.

A field experiment was conducted during 2019 and 2020 at the research farm of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab to study the effect of integrated nutrient management (INM) on grain yield, economics, and system productivity of spring maize (Zea mays L.) under residue incorporation in a diversified cropping system. The main plot consisted of 4 treatment combinations, viz. straw removal + 100% NPK + farmyard manure (FYM) @50 t/ha; straw removal + 150% NPK; straw incorporation + 100% NPK + FYM @50 t/ha; and straw incorporation + 150% NPK, while sub-plot consisted of 3 nutrient levels (75%, 100% and 125% NPK) applied to spring maize planted in a single row and double rows on bed. The results revealed that combined application of straw incorporation + 100% NPK + FYM @50 t/ha resulted in significantly higher grain yield (80.1 and 83.6 q/ha), net returns (259.9 and 300.2 ×103 ₹/ha), benefit cost ratio (1.34 and 1.51) and system productivity (82.9 and 89.1 kg/ha/day) of spring maize and application of 125% NPK to double row on bed resulted in significantly higher grain yield (14.6%, 12.9%) and system productivity (5.4%, 4.7%) as compared to 100% NPK to single row on bed during 2019 and 2020, respectively. Residue incorporation along with INM increased grain yield, net returns, nutrient uptake and system productivity of spring maize.

Adequate soil moisture around the root zone of the crops is essential for optimal plant growth and productivity throughout the crop season, whereas excessive as well as deficient moisture is usually detrimental. A field experiment was conducted on cotton (Gossipium hirsuttum) with three water regimes (viz. well-watered (control); rainfed after one post-sowing irrigation (1-POSI) and rainfed after two post-sowing irrigations (2-POSI)) in main plots and application of eight osmoprotectants in sub plots of Split plot design to quantify the loss of seed cotton yield (SCY) under high and mild moisture stress. The DSSAT-CROPGRO-cotton model was calibrated to validate the response of cotton crop to water stress. Results elucidated that in comparison of well watered (control) crop, 1-POSI and 2-POSI reduced plant height by 13.5–28.4% and lower leaf area index (LAI) by 21.6–37.6%. Pooled analysis revealed that SCY under control was higher by 1,127 kg ha−1 over 1-POSI and 597 kg ha−1 than 2-POSI. The DSSAT-CROPGRO-cotton model fairly simulated the cotton yield as evidenced by good accuracy (d-stat ≥ 0.92) along with lower root mean square error (RMSE) of ≤183.2 kg ha−1; mean absolute percent error (MAPE) ≤6.5% under different irrigation levels. Similarly, simulated and observed biomass also exhibited good agreement with ≥0.98 d-stat; ≤533.7 kg ha−1 RMSE; and ≤4.6% MAPE. The model accurately simulated the periodical LAI, biomass and soil water dynamics as affected by varying water regimes in conformity with periodical observations. Both the experimental and the simulated results confirmed the decline of SCY with any degree of water stress. Thus, a well calibrated DSSAT-CROPGRO-cotton model may be successfully used for estimating the crop performance under varying hydro-climatic conditions.

Soil compaction under repetitive tillage and surface flood method of irrigation (SFMI) are significant hurdles for sustaining crop production in India, necessitating the adoption of efficient soil and water management strategies. Hence, a 3-year field study was conducted at two diverse agro-climatic locations (Abohar and Faridkot) to investigate the impact of subsurface drip (SUSD) fertigation on crop and water productivity of cotton-wheat cropping system (CWCS), over traditional practice (TP) (conventional tillage with SFMI and manual application of nutrients). The experiment was conducted in a factorial randomized complete block design with three levels of subsurface drip irrigation (SUSDI) [100, 80, and 60% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc)] and two fertigation levels [75% recommended dose of nutrients (RDN) and 100% RDN], where TP and surface drip (SD) fertigation at 80% ETc coupled with 100% RDN (Control 2), served as two control treatments. Cotton was raised through reduced tillage, while zero till drill was used for sowing wheat. The results revealed that, barring SUSDI at 60% ETc, both crops exhibited improved yield under all drip combinations of reduced or zero tillage over TP. Better mass and higher length of cotton roots in drip fertigation were evident due to improved steady-state infiltration rates (SSIR) and reduced bulk density (BD) under conservation tillage. When 100% RDN was applied, the 100% and 80% ETc SUSDI resulted in 26.7% and 24.7% higher seed cotton yield (SCY) than TP. Similarly, wheat yield with 100% RDN was improved by 10.5% and 14.4% under SUSDI of 80% and 100% ETc, respectively, over the TP. The results indicated that SUSD can be clubbed with reduced tillage for better soil health, improved crop yield, and higher apparent water productivity. The improved benefit to cost (B:C) owing to enhanced monetary returns over TP also substantiated that reduced tillage with SUSD is a viable and remunerative practice for CWCS. The study elucidated that reduced tillage exercised a beneficial effect on physical soil properties by lowering BD and improving SSIR. At the same time, SUSD could save huge amounts of irrigation water besides enhanced input use efficiency leading to higher crop productivity.

A field experiment was conducted at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Regional Research Station (RRS), Faridkot and Bathinda during rainy (kharif) season 2017 to evaluate the performance of Bt and non Bt cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars under different sowing environments. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with 3 sowing dates (April 20, May 10 and May 30) in main plots and 4 American cotton cultivars [2 Bt cultivars (NCS 855 BGII and RCH 650 BGII) and 2 non Bt cultivars (F 2228 and F 1861)] in sub-plots. Results of the pooled data indicated that early sown (April 20) crop accumulated more dry matter production, higher crop growth rate (CGR) as well as relative growth rate (RGR) followed by crop sown on May 10 and May 30. Maximum CGR (14.35–15.48 g/m2/day) was obtained during 90–120 DAS (days after sowing) while RGR was highest during 60–90 DAS. Among tested cultivars, F 1861 exhibited better CGR and RGR values and hence, accumulated higher dry matter (1303.0 g/m2) followed by F 2228 (1276.9 g/m2), NCS 855 BGII (1261.1 g/m2) and RCH 650 BGII (1206.7 g/m2). Dry matter accumulation in fruiting bodies has started around 90 DAS and accounted for 30–35% of total above ground biomass. Bt cultivar NCS 855 BGII, accumulated higher dry matter in fruiting bodies (458.1 g/m2), though at par with RCH 650 BGII (432.2 g/m2) but, significantly higher than F 1861 (403.3 g/m2) and F 2228 (401.9 g/m2). Dry matter accumulation towards fruiting bodies in Bt cultivars was ~9% higher than non Bt cultivars which may be prime reason for better yield performance of Bt cotton.

Surface flood (SF) method is used to irrigate cotton in India, which results in huge wastage of water besides leaching of nutrients. This necessitates the adoption of efficient management strategies to save scarce water without compromising the yield. Therefore, a 2-year field investigation was conducted under two climatic regimes (Faridkot and Abohar) to study the effect of sub-surface drip fertigation (SSDF) on seed cotton yield (SCY), water productivity, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), and economic parameters in comparison with SF and surface drip fertigation (SDF). The field experiment had a total of eight treatments arranged in a randomized complete block design. Three levels of sub-surface drip irrigation [(SSDI); i.e., 60%, 80%, and 100% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc)] and two N fertigation levels [100% recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN; i.e., 112.5 kg N ha-1) and 75% RDN] made up six treatments, while SF (Control 1) and SDF at 80% ETc (Control 2), both with 100% of RDN, served as the controls. Among irrigation regimes, the SSDI levels of 80% ETc and 100% ETc recorded 18.7% (3,240 kg ha-1) and 21.1% (3,305 kg ha-1) higher SCY compared with SF (2,728 kg ha-1). Water use efficiency under SF (57.0%) was reduced by 34.2%, 40.8%, and 38.2% compared with SSDI’s 60 (76.5%), 80 (80.3%), and 100% ETc (78.8%), respectively. Among fertigation levels, NUE was higher by 19.2% under 75% (34.1 kg SCY kg-1 N) over 100% RDN (28.6 kg SCY kg-1 N), but later it also registered 11.9% higher SCY, indicating such to be optimum for better productivity. SSDF at 80% ETc along with 112.5 kg N ha-1 recorded 26.6% better SCY (3455 kg ha-1) and 18.5% higher NUE (30.7 kg SCY kg-1 N) over SF. These findings demonstrate that the application of SSDF could save irrigation water, enhance SCY, and improve the farmers’ returns compared with SF. Therefore, in northwestern India, SSDF at 80% ETc along with 112.5 kg N ha-1 could be a novel water-savvy concept which would be immensely helpful in enhancing cotton productivity.

Plant growth regulators are naturally biosynthesized chemicals in plants that influence physiological processes. Their synthetic analogous trigger numerous biochemical and physiological processes involved in the growth and development of plants. Nowadays, due to changing climatic scenario, numerous biotic and abiotic stresses hamper seed germination, seedling growth, and plant development leading to a decline in biological and economic yields. However, plant growth regulators (PGRs) can potentially play a fundamental role in regulating plant responses to various abiotic stresses and hence, contribute to plant adaptation under adverse environments. The major effects of abiotic stresses are growth and yield disturbance, and both these effects are directly overseen by the PGRs. Different types of PGRs such as abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), ethylene (ET), and jasmonates (JAs) are connected to boosting the response of plants to multiple stresses. In contrast, PGRs including cytokinins (CKs), gibberellins (GAs), auxin, and relatively novel PGRs such as strigolactones (SLs), and brassinosteroids (BRs) are involved in plant growth and development under normal and stressful environmental conditions. Besides, polyamines and nitric oxide (NO), although not considered as phytohormones, have been included in the current review due to their involvement in the regulation of several plant processes and stress responses. These PGRs are crucial for regulating stress adaptation through the modulates physiological, biochemical, and molecular processes and activation of the defense system, upregulating of transcript levels, transcription factors, metabolism genes, and stress proteins at cellular levels. The current review presents an acumen of the recent progress made on different PGRs to improve plant tolerance to abiotic stress such as heat, drought, salinity, and flood. Moreover, it highlights the research gaps on underlying mechanisms of PGRs biosynthesis under stressed conditions and their potential roles in imparting tolerance against adverse effects of suboptimal growth conditions.

The present study was performed at three diverse agro-climatic zones of Indian Punjab. A validated DSSAT-CANEGRO model was used to simulate the response of different climate change scenarios on cane yield of four sugarcane varieties (CoPb 91, CoJ 88, Co 118 and Co 238) for each zone. Results described that elevated and lowered minimum temperature upto 3.0°C may alter cane yield by -17.9 to 18.0 per cent. Similarly, ±3.0°C altered maximum temperature may change the cane yield by -17.6 to 17.5 per cent. The sugarcane yield may be decreased by 2.4 to 14.4 per cent, 3.3 to 17.6% and 0.3 to15.4 per cent with 2.5 to 15 per cent reduced solar radiation and increase in the same unit may enhance the yield by 1.9 to 9.0 per cent, 1.3 to 13.6 per cent and 2.0 to 12.3 per cent at Faridkot, Gurdaspur and Kapurthala, respectively. A±30 mm rainfall may change the cane yield by 9.2 to 18.0 % similarly, rise and fall in CO2 by 5 to 30 ppm was able to increase and decrease the cane yield by 2.4- 22.6 and 3.5 - 27.8 per cent, at different regions. This study confirmed that for sugarcane cultivation in Punjab CoPb 91 should be preferred. However, CoJ 88 and Co 238 may suffer cane yield loss of 7.8 and 9.9 per cent respectively.

Wheat constitutes pivotal position for ensuring food and nutritional security; however, rapidly rising soil and water salinity pose a serious threat to its production globally. Salinity stress negatively affects the growth and development of wheat leading to diminished grain yield and quality. Wheat plants utilize a range of physiological biochemical and molecular mechanisms to adapt under salinity stress at the cell, tissue as well as whole plant levels to optimize the growth, and yield by off-setting the adverse effects of saline environment. Recently, various adaptation and management strategies have been developed to reduce the deleterious effects of salinity stress to maximize the production and nutritional quality of wheat. This review emphasizes and synthesizes the deleterious effects of salinity stress on wheat yield and quality along with highlighting the adaptation and mitigation strategies for sustainable wheat production to ensure food security of skyrocketing population under changing climate.

A field experiment has been conducted in Cotton-Wheat cropping system for three cropping cycles, wherein we evaluated a total of five treatments (Control, Sub-soiling at 1.0 m, Sub-soiling at 1.5 m, Cross sub-soiling at 1.0 m and Cross sub-soiling at 1.5 m) in complete randomized block design to find out the effect of sub-soiling on the physical properties of soil and root parameters of cotton in Indian Punjab, where heavy machinery usage in farm operations is causing soil compaction leading to ill effects. Data elucidated that any level of sub-soiling not only improved soil physical properties by reduction in bulk density but also enhanced steady state infiltration rate as compared to control. Data also revealed that root length, fresh root weight plant−1 and dry root weight plant−1 of cotton exhibited significant differences in sub-soiled plots versus control for initial two years of experimentation but trivial differences existed thereafter. Consequently, both cotton and wheat crop resulted in higher yield owing to above mentioned reasons. The field data set is made publicly available to enable critical or extended analysis.

Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) growth and development during the pre-and post-flowering stages are susceptible to high temperature and drought. We report the field-based characterization of multiple morpho-physiological and reproductive stress resilience traits in 11 interspecific chromosome substitution (CS) lines isogenic to each other and the inbred G. hirsutum line TM-1. Significant genetic variability was detected (p < 0.001) in multiple traits in CS lines carrying chromosomes and chromosome segments from CS-B (G. barbadense) and CS-T (G. tomentosum). Line CS-T15sh had a positive effect on photosynthesis (13%), stomatal conductance (33%), and transpiration (24%), and a canopy 6.8 °C cooler than TM-1. The average pollen germination was approximately 8% greater among the CS-B than CS-T lines. Based on the stress response index, three CS lines are identified as heat- and drought-tolerant (CS-T07, CS-B15sh, and CS-B18). The three lines demonstrated enhanced photosynthesis (14%), stomatal conductance (29%), transpiration (13%), and pollen germination (23.6%) compared to TM-1 under field conditions, i.e., traits that would expectedly enhance performance in stressful environments. The generated phenotypic data and stress-tolerance indices on novel CS lines, along with phenotypic methods, would help in developing new cultivars with improved resilience to the effects of global warming.