Cotton is a major export product of Pakistan. Drought stress is the major environmental factor that negatively impacts cotton yield and quality. A field experiment was conducted in 2015 and 2016 at Cotton Research Station, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan to evaluate the effects of four moisture regimes on yield and quality attributes of four cotton genotypes. The trial laid-out in randomized complete block design with split-plot arrangements having three replications. Four irrigation scheduling namely I1 (irrigations at 10 days interval), I2 (irrigations at 20 days interval), I3 (irrigations at 30 days interval) and I4 (irrigations at 40 days interval) were allotted to main plots while cotton genotypes (Gomal-93, Israr shaheed, CIM-622, CIM-616) were kept in sub-plots having plot size of 10 m × 3 m. Results showed I3 (irrigations at 30 days interval) had higher bolls per plant, bolls weight (g), ginning-out-tun-GOT % and yield of seed cotton. Israr shaheed gave optimum yield owing to more bolls out of plant, average weight per boll (g) with greater ginning out-turn-GOT (%) among the other cotton varieties. Interaction showed that Israr shaheed produced maximum seed cotton yield at I3 (irrigations at 30 days interval). It is concluded that Israr shaheed) is a drought tolerant cotton cultivar, has high yield potential and best suited to the dry lands of Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan.

Keywords: Cotton, zero tillage, irrigation scheduling, genotypes, yield and quality