Improving cotton fiber quality can increase the economic income of cotton farmers, but achieving high fiber quality without decreasing cotton fiber yield remains a major challenge in saline-alkaline cotton fields. A field experiment was conducted in 2020 and 2021 on saline-alkaline soil with cotton under drip irrigation to examine how amount and timing of leaching affected soils salinity, cotton fiber yield and quality. There were five leaching amounts (CK: 0 mm, W1: 75 mm, W2: 150 mm, W3: 225 mm and W4: 300 mm) and three leaching timings (T1: once at the seedling stage, T2: twice at the seedling and budding stages, and T3: thrice at the seedling, budding and pollen-setting stages). Soil salinity, soil nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N), cotton nitrogen (N) uptake, irrigation water productivity (IWP), cotton fiber yield, fiber length, fiber uniformity, fiber strength, fiber elongation, micronaire and fiber quality index (FQI) were investigated. The results indicated that soil salinity and NO3-N reduced with increasing leaching amount. The N uptake of cotton bolls was greater than in cotton leaves, stems and roots, and total N accumulation increased with increasing leaching amount. The optimal cotton fiber yield and IWP occurred in treatment W3T2, and were 3,199 and 2,771 kg ha−1, and 0.5482 and 0.4912 kg m−3 in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Fiber length, strength, elongation, and uniformity increased with increasing leaching amount, while there was a negative relationship between fiber micronaire and leaching amount. Soil salinity, NO3-N and fiber micronaire were negatively correlated with fiber quality (i.e., length, strength, elongation and uniformity) and yield, nitrogen uptake of various organs (i.e., root, stems and leaves) and whole plant nitrogen uptake. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that fiber elongation was most sensitive to soil salinity. The method of Entropy–Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (EM–TOPSIS) indicated that leaching of 300 mm of water applied equally at the seedling and budding periods was the optimal treatment to maintain soil salinity and nutrient levels and achieve high cotton fiber yield and quality. In conclusion, the optimal level of leaching treatment decreased soil salinity and improved nitrogen uptake and was beneficial to achieve high fiber yield and quality. Our results will be significant for guiding drip irrigation practice of leaching on saline-alkaline soils for sustainable cotton fiber production.
