Abstract
Water scarcity constrains cotton production in Central Asia, where irrigation strategies must balance yield with water conservation. A three-season field experiment (2018–2020) in Qibray District, Tashkent Region, compared surface and drip irrigation at three pre-irrigation soil-moisture threshold regimes: 65–65–60%, 70–70–65%, and 75–75–65% of field capacity across sequential crop-development periods. The experiment was reported as a randomized block design with three replications and 120 m² plots. Because the available analytical record contained treatment-level summaries rather than replicate- and year-level observations, results were evaluated descriptively and no inferential significance claims were retained. Drip irrigation used 2,900–3,560 m³ ha⁻¹ compared with 5,264–5,996 m³ ha⁻¹ under surface irrigation, corresponding to 40.6–44.9% less irrigation water for matched moisture regimes. Cotton yield was 3.06–3.49 t ha⁻¹ under drip irrigation and 2.66–3.07 t ha⁻¹ under surface irrigation, a 13.7–15.0% increase for matched regimes. Irrigation water productivity was highest under drip irrigation at 65–65–60% field capacity (1.06 kg m⁻³), whereas the highest yield occurred at 75–75–65% field capacity (3.49 t ha⁻¹). The findings indicate a trade-off: the wetter drip regime favored yield, while the drier drip regime maximized output per unit of irrigation water.