Zoning of Water Deficiency Risk for Conventional Cotton in Mato Grosso

Cotton agroclimatic zoning is an essential tool to establish the most favorable periods for its cultivation, when the environmental conditions are more propitious, in order to reduce risks in agricultural activity. The objective of this work was to develop the zoning of the risk estimation of cotton yield reduction in the state of Mato Grosso, using the FAO method. Cultivars of early, medium and late cycles were considered, with four sowing dates (12/11, 12/21, 1/01 and 1/11) and three available water capacities (60, 140 and 200 mm). Results were specialized by ordinary kriging. The southernmost regions of the state presented the highest reduction risks, due to the lower precipitation in these areas. Sowing period 1 presented the lowest yield reduction risk, and the late-cycle cultivar in season 4 was the one that presented the highest reduction risk. Trough the validation of the obtained results, it can be considered that the methodology adopted in this work to verify the risk of yield decrease proved to be efficient.