Cotton Genomics and Genetics 2025, Vol.16, No.2, 57-71 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/cgg 67 properties of the soil and the development of the crop root system; second, the investment cost of the drip irrigation system is high, and some small and medium-sized farmers have difficulties in equipment maintenance and use; third, over-reliance on drip irrigation in some areas has led to imbalanced irrigation frequency and redundant water, causing diseases and waste of resources. Therefore, the promotion of mulch substitutes, intelligent upgrades of drip irrigation systems and agricultural technology training should be combined to ensure the long-term sustainable development of drip irrigation. Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the “comb-type” pipe network layout (Adapted from Fan et al., 2024) 8 Future Directions and Innovations 8.1 Integration of remote sensing and IoT for smart irrigation In recent years, remote sensing and IoT have been increasingly used in agricultural water resource management. UAVs, high-resolution satellite remote sensing images, and ground-based multispectral sensors can monitor cotton field canopy temperature, NDVI index, leaf area index, and other parameters in real time to determine crop moisture conditions (Shanmugapriya et al., 2022). By integrating these data with soil moisture sensors, a dynamic decision support system can be built to achieve precise irrigation control for the entire field, all weather, and the entire process (O'Shaughnessy et al., 2023). For example, the smart drip irrigation system designed by Guo and Chen (2024) is based on IoT control nodes, cloud platforms, and irrigation algorithms. It can automatically adjust irrigation frequency and volume during different cotton growth periods, improving water use efficiency by more than 13%. This "air-sky-ground" integrated perception system will promote irrigation to move towards digital and refined management. 8.2 Breeding of drought-tolerant cotton varieties In drought-prone areas, it is difficult to fundamentally solve the water resource pressure by improving irrigation technology alone. The breeding and promotion of drought-tolerant and efficient cotton varieties is a key direction to improve the water use efficiency of crops from the source. Through transcriptomics, QTL positioning and other technologies, several key genes related to drought tolerance have been identified (Rasheed et al., 2023). For example, transcription factors such as GhDREB and GhWRKY regulate the stomatal closure and osmotic regulation ability of plants under drought conditions. At present, cotton breeding units at home and abroad are accelerating the integration of conventional breeding and molecular marker-assisted technologies to screen drought-resistant and stable product lines, and combine them with precision irrigation systems for supporting cultivation (Xing and Wang, 2024). The promotion of drought-tolerant and high-yield varieties will significantly reduce cotton's dependence on irrigation water sources and achieve the synergy of biological and engineering water conservation. 8.3 Policy support and farmer training for optimized irrigation The promotion of technology is inseparable from institutional guarantees and farmer participation. At present, some cotton farmers lack the knowledge of irrigation scheduling and maintenance, and still rely on experience for
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