Rainfed and Supplemental Irrigation Modelling 2D GIS Moisture Rootzone Mapping on Yield and Seed Oil of Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) Using Precision Agriculture and Remote Sensing †

Abstract

The effects of two irrigation (IR1: rainfed; IR2: rainfed + supplemental drip irrigation), and two fertilization (Ft1, Ft2) treatments were studied on cotton yield and seed oil by applying a number of new agro-technologies such as: TDR sensors; soil moisture (SM); precision agriculture; remote-sensing NDVI (Sentinel-2 satellite sensor); soil-hydraulic analyses; geostatistical models; SM-rootzone, and modelling 2D GIS mapping. A daily soil-water-crop-atmosphere (SWCA) balance model was developed. The two-way ANOVA statistical analysis results revealed that irrigation (IR2 = best) and fertilization treatments (Ft1 = best) significantly affected yield and oil content. Supplemental irrigation, if applied during critical growth stages, could result in substantial improvement on yield (+234.12%) and oil content (+126.44%).