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Increasing irrigation costs and declining water availability compel producers to adapt irrigation strategies for maximum crop yield and water use efficiency. A field trial was conducted to observe the effects of various drip irrigation ratios (IR‐0, IR‐25, IR‐50, IR‐75 and IR‐100) on water use efficiency (WUE), the irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE), lint yield, yield components and fibre quality at two upland cotton varieties during 2004 and 2005. WUE was found to increase from 0.62 to 0.71 kg m−3 as the irrigation water applied was reduced from 100 % to 75 % of soil water depletion. Deficit irrigation of cotton with drip irrigation at 75 % treatment level (IR‐75) did not decrease seed cotton yield and yield components during 2 years, with the exception of the number of bolls in 2005. Among fibre quality parameters, no significant differences in fibre length, fineness, uniformity index and elongation were detected between the 100 % and 75 % irrigation levels in 2005. The results revealed that irrigation of cotton with a drip irrigation method at 75 % level had significant benefits in terms of saved irrigation water without reducing yield, and high WUE indicated a definitive advantage of employing deficit irrigation under limited water supply conditions.

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