COTTON

GENERAL INFORMATION

Cotton is one of the most important fibre and cash crop of India as well as of entire world. It plays a dominant role in the industrial and agricultural economy of the country. It provides the basic raw material to cotton textile industry. In India it provides direct livelihood to 6 million farmers and about 40-50 million people are employed in cotton trade and its processing. Cotton is a water thirsty crop and around 6% of the water for irrigation in is used for its cultivation. In India, it is grown on a large scale in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Gujarat is the largest producer of cotton followed by Maharashtra and Punjab. It is vital kharif crop of Punjab. The average lint yield of the State is around 697 kg per hectare

temprature

15-35°C

Sowing Temperature

25-35°C

Harvesting Temperature

15-25°C

Rainfall

55-100 cm

SOIL

It can be grown on all type of soil having pH ranges in-between 6 and 8. Deep, friable, well drained and fertile soil are good for crop cultivation. Sandy, saline or water logged soils are not suitable for cotton cultivation. The depth of soil should not be less than 20-25 cm.RCH 134BT: It is high yielding Bt cotton variety. It is resistant to bollworm and American bollworm. It matures n 160-165 days. It give average yield of 11.5 qtl/acre of seed cotton. Very good fibre property with 34.4% ginning outturn.

POPULAR VARIETIES WITH THEIR YIELD

RCH 317BT: It is high yielding Bt cotton variety. It is resistant to spotted bollworm and American bollworm. It mature in 160-165 days. Boll size is about 3.8 cm with good fluffy opening. Gives average yield of 10.5 qtl/acre. gives 33.9% of ginning outturn. MRC 6301BT: It is high yielding Bt cotton variety. It is resistant to spotted bollworm and American bollworm. It mature in 160-165 days. Boll size of 4.3 g. It gives average yield of 10 qtl/acre and 34.7% ginning outturn. MRC 6304BT: It is high yielding Bt cotton variety. It is resistant to spotted bollworm and American bollworm. It mature in 160-165 days. Boll size of 3.9 g. It gives average yield of 10.1 qtl/acre and 35.2% ginning outturn. Ankur 651: This is Jassid tolerant and leaf curl resistant hybrid. Plant is of 97 cm height. It matures in 170 days. Suitable for cotton - wheat rotation. Gives average yield of 7 qtl/acre. It matures in 170 days. 32.5% ginning outturn. Whitegold: It is hybrid, tolerant to leaf curl virus disease. It has dark green broad lobed leaves. Plants average height is about 125 cm. Matures in 180 days. Gives cotton seed yield of 6.5 qtl/acre. Ginning outturn is 30%. LHH 144: Leaf curl resistant hybrid. Leaves are of semi okra lobed types. Average boll weight is 5.5 gm. It matures in 180 days and suitable for cotton-wheat rotation. Gives average seed yield of 7.6 qtl/acre. Ginning outturn is 33%. F 1861: It is variety, tolerant to leaf curl virus disease. Average plant height is 135 cm. It matures in 180 days. It gives average seed cotton yield of 6.5 qtl/acre. Its ginning outturn is 33.5% F 1378: High yielding variety. Average plant height is 150 cm. Boll are round and big with good fluffy opening. It matures in 180 days. Gives average yield of 10 qtl/acre. Ginning outturn is 35.5%. F 846: It is semi spreading, high yielding variety. Average plant height of 134 cm. It matures in 180 days. Gives average yield of 11 qtl/acre. The ginning outturn is 35.3%. LHH 1556: It is short duration early maturing variety. Plant height is about 140 cm. Leaves are light green and boll are of round shape. Gives yield of 8.5 qtl/acre. It matures in 165 days. Moti: Fusarium wilt tolerant desi cotton hybrid. Average plant height is about 164 cm. Leaves are narrow with white flowers. Boll are of large size. It mature in 165 days. Gives average yield of 8.45 qtl per acre. Ginning outturn is 38.6%.

Desi varieties

FMDH 9: Plant having green body, its leaves are narrow lobed leaves and white flowers. Its bolls are medium and fluffy opening. Ready to harvest in 160 days. It is resistant to jassid, whitefly and tolerant to Fusarium wilt and Bacterila blight. Its ginning outturn is 37.3% and fibre length is 23.4 mm. It give average yield of 10 qtl/acre. FDK 124: High yielding, early maturing variety having green and narrow lobed leaves. Ready to harvest in 160 days. It give resistance to whitefly and jassid. Its fibre length is 21 mm and ginning outtuns of 36.4%. It give average yield of 9.3 qtl/acre. LD 694: Desi cotton variety. Leaves are narrow with pink flowers. Boll are of big size. Matures in 170 days. Gives ginning outturn of 40.9%. It gives average yield of 7 qtl/acre. Tolerant to Fusarium wilt and resistant to jassid. LD 327: It is high yielding variety. Plants having reddish brown, narrow lobed deep cut leaves with pink flower. Boll are of big size and easy picking. It matures in 175 days. Tolerant to Fusarium wilt. Gives average yield of 11.5 qtl/acre. Gives ginning percent of 41.9. LD 1019: The variety is resistant to shattering. It gives an average yield of 8.6qtl/acre. 2-3 pickings are required. The variety is tolerant to shattering. The fibre length is 22.6mm and ginning out turn is 35.77%.

Popular variety

BCHH 6488 BG II: Hybrid having green narrow lobed leaves with cream flower. Ready to harvest in 165-170 days. It give ginning outturns of 34.5% and fibre length of 27 mm. But it is susceptible to cotton leaf curl and affected by high incidence of para wilt. BCHH 6588 BG II: It is popular among farmer.

American varieties of cotton

PAU Bt 1: First Bt cotton variety which is developed in public sector. It gives an average yield of 11.2qtl/acre of seed cotton yield. The variety is moderately resistant to cotton curl disease. The boll size is 4.3gm and ginning out turn is 41.4%. RCH 650 BG II: High yielding Bt cotton hybrid, gives resistance against American, pink and spotted bollworm, also against tobacco caterpillars. Its ball are big and have average weight of 4.5 gm. Its fibre length is 25.5 mm and ginning percent is 34%. It gives average yield of seed cotton about 9.5 qtl/acre. NCS 855 BG II: High yielding Bt cotton hybrid, gives resistance against American, pink and spotted bollworm, also against tobacco caterpillars. It is tolerant to para wilt. Its fibre length is about 28.5 mm and ginning outturn of 36%. It gives average yield of seed cotton about 9.7 qtl/acre. ANKUR 3028 BG II: High yielding Bt cotton hybrid, gives resistance against American, pink and spotted bollworm, also against tobacco caterpillars. It is moderately tolerant to leaf curl virus and para wilt. Its fibre length is about 31.3 mm and ginning outturn of 31.4%. It give average yield of 9.7 qtl/acre. MRC 7017 BG II : High yielding, early maturing variety having resistance to tobacco caterpillars, American, pink and spotted bollworm. Also give resistance to leaf curl virus and para wilt. Its fibre quality is good having fibre length of 29.7 mm and ginning outturn of 33.6%. It give average yield of 10.4 qtl/acre. MRC 7031 BG II : High yielding, early maturing variety having resistance to tobacco caterpillars, American, pink and spotted bollworm. Also give resistance to leaf curl virus and tolerant to para wilt. Its fibre length is 29.4 mm and ginning outturns is 33.4%. It give average yield of 9.8 qtl/acre.

Other state varieties:

Ankur 226BG, PCH 406 BT, Sigma Bt, SDS 1368 Bt, SDS 9Bt, NAMCOT 402 Bt, GK 206 Bt, 6317 Bt, 6488 Bt, MRC 7017 BG II, MRC 7031 BG II, NCS 145 BG II , ACH 33-2 BG II, JKCH 1050 Bt, MRC 6025 Bt, MRC 6029 Bt, NCS 913 Bt, NCS 138 Bt, RCH 308 Bt, RCH 314 Bt LAND PREPARATION It required thorough land preparation for good germination and growth of crop. After removal of Rabi crop, irrigate field immediately then take ploughing of land with MB plough and planking. Carry out deep ploughing once in three years, it will help to keep check on perennial weeds also kill various soil borne pest and diseases.

SOWING

Time of sowing

Optimum time for sowing is in April - mid May. For Management of Mealybug, sow Bajra, Arhar, Maize and Jowar in the fields surrounding cotton crop. Avoid growing tur, moong and bhendi in and around cotton field as these harbour insect pests. In Punjab cotton wheat rotation is common but rotation with berseem and clusterbean has been found to have beneficial effect on the succeeding cotton crop.

Spacing

For American cotton use spacing of 75x15 cm under irrigated condition while under rain fed condition use spacing of 60x30 cm. For desi cotton use spacing of 60x30 cm for rain fed as well as for irrigated condition

Sowing Depth

Sowing should be done at depth of 5 cm. 6

Method of sowing

For sowing use seed drill for desi cotton while dibbling of seed is done in case of hybrids and Bt cotton. Square planting is beneficial compared to rectangular planting. Few gaps arise due to failure of seed germination and mortality of seedling. To overcome this gap filling is necessary. Two weeks after sowing the weak/diseased/damaged seedlings should be removed by keeping a healthy seedling/hill.SEED

Seed Rate

Seed rate varies with variety, growing zones, irrigation etc. Use seed rate for American cotton hybrid@1.5 Kg/acre while for American cotton variety use seed rate of 3.5 kg/acre. For desi cotton hybrid@1.25 kg/acre and 3 kg/acre for desi cotton varieties. Seed Treatment Seed of cotton is covered by short fibre in American cotton. Before sowing removal of this necessary as it will make difficulty for sowing. It can be removed by chemical and Non-chemical method.

In Non-chemical method, seeds are soaked in water overnight, then next day rubbed with cowdung and wood ash or saw dust then dried in shed before sowing. In chemical method, Depending upon the fibres on the seeds, mix the 400 gm concentrated Sulphuric acid (Industrial grade) in per 4 kg seeds for American cotton and 300 gm for 3 kg Desi cotton seed for 2-3 minutes. It will burn all the fibers of seeds. Then 10 Ltr of water in container, stir well and drained out the water. Wash the seeds for three times with normal water and then lime water (Sodium Bicarbonate@50gm/10Ltr of water) for 1 min. Give one more washing then dry the seeds in shed.

Do not use Metal or wood container instead use plastic or earthen pot and use plastic glove by operator for chemical method.

To protect from sucking pest attacks (upto 15-20 days) treat seeds with Imidacloprid (Confidor) 5-7ml or Thiamethoxam (CRUISER)@ 5-7gm/kg of seeds.

FERTILIZER

Judicious use of fertilizers, irrigation and clean cultivation will prevent early build-up of pests and helps to conserve natural enemies of pests. To enhance subsidiary growth to have maximum number of boll bearing branches, cut top of growing point of main branch at around 5 feet height. At the time of last ploughing apply well decomposed cow dung @ 5-10 ton for rainfed and 10-20 ton per acre for irrigated soil. It will help to conserved moisture in soil.

Fertilizer doses for Cotton varieties, apply Urea@65 kg and DAP@27 kg or SSP@75 kg per acre. And in case of hybrids, apply 130 kg/acre of Urea and DAP@27 kg or SSP@75 kg/acre. If DAP@ 27 kg is used instead of SSP then reduced Urea dose by 10 kg.

Apply whole dose of phosphorus in last ploughing. Apply half of Nitrogen fertilizer at time of thinning and remaining half at the appearance of first flower. For low fertile soil, apply half dose of Nitrogen at time of sowing. To reduce nitrogen loss from Urea mix 8 kg sulphur powder/ 50 kg Urea and apply in between rows of standing crop.

WSF: 80-100 days after sowing, if no or poor flowering is observed then to enhance flowering spray with multi micronutrient fertilizer@750 gm/acre/150 Ltr of water. In case bt varieties to improve yield, spray with 13:0:45@10 gm or Potash@5 gm/Ltr of water at evening time on 85, 95 & 105th days after sowing. Also to get higher yield, take alternate sprays of Potassium@10 gm/Ltr and DAP@20 gm/Ltr (2-3 sprays each at 15 days interval from first blooming). Sometime flower and square drop is observed then to control flower drop and to obtain good yield spray with Planofix(NAA) @4 ml and Multi Micronutrient fertilizer@120 gm, Magnesium Sulphate@ 150 gm/15 Ltr water. Due to bad weather effect boll drop is seen then to control, spray 00:52:34@100 gm+Humic acid(>12%) @30 ml+Sticker @6 ml in 15 Ltr water thrice at 10 days interval. Leaf reddening is deficiency observed now a day. It cause mainly due to lack of nutrient management. It can be corrected by proper fertilizer management. For that take Foliar spray of MgSO4@1 kg, followed by Urea@2 kg in 100 Ltr water

IRRIGATION

Recommended time for irrigations is given below in the table:-

Critical stages Irrigation Interval

Branching and Square formation 45-50 days after sowing

Flowering and Fruiting stage 75-85 days after sowing

Boll formation 95-105 days after sowing

Boll development and boll opening 115-125 days after sowing

Cotton required four to six irrigation depending upon rainfall intensity. Give first Irrigation to the crop four to six week after sowing. And remaining irrigation at interval of two or three weeks. Never let water to stand in younger plants. Do not let the crop to suffer for want of water during flowering and fruiting to avoid the shedding of flowers and bolls. Give last irrigation to the crop when 33% of bolls are opened and after that there is no need of more water through irrigation. Whenever salty water has to use for irrigation, the water should be get tested from authenticated laboratory and as per their recommendation, Gypsum or Pyrite may be added. In Drought Condition, alternate furrow irrigation and use of micro irrigation system (wherever feasible) will be of immense help in saving irrigation water.