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Field experiments were conducted for two years to find out the appropriate sowing configuration and rate of nitrogen (N) for sustained yield and improved water use efficiency of hybrid Bt cotton irrigated through surface drip irrigation. Drip irrigation under normal sowing, in which equal quantities of water and N were applied as check-basin irrigation, resulted in an increase of 389 and 155 kg ha−1 in seed cotton yield compared with check-basin irrigation during the first and second year, respectively. Normal paired row sowing under a drip irrigation system, in which only 50% of irrigation water was applied compared with normal sowing, produced a yield similar to normal sowing under drip irrigation during both years, resulting in 22% higher water use efficiency. Dense paired row sowing under drip irrigation, in which only 75% irrigation water was applied compared with normal sowing, increased the mean seed cotton yield by 5% and water use efficiency by 19%. Decrease in the rate of nitrogen application (from 150 to 75 kg N ha−1) caused a decline in seed cotton yield and water use efficiency under all the methods of sowing, but the reverse was true for agronomic efficiency of N. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]