Cotton

Scientific Name:

Gossypium herbaceum

Botany of Cotton:

It belongs to the circle of the family "Malvaceae".

Kinds:

Gossypium hirsutum (American cotton) – used for fiber
Gossypium arboretum (Desi cotton) – used for cotton
Gossypium barbadense (Egyptian cotton)

Root: It has a tap-root solid gadget up to two hundred cm deep in the soil.
Stem: Erect, circular and woody stem (1-five toes excessive) with several lateral branches. The most crucial step includes branches and leaves but no flowers. Units are of two types i.e. Monopodial branches (2-4 in number) do now not endure flower and fruit, and sympodial branches that directly undergo flower and fruit.
Leaves: Leaves are hairy with 5-7 lobes.
Flower: The flower bud is referred to as rectangular (Gudi). Self-pollination happens in cotton.
Fruit: Fruit is known as a boll or pill. Immature segments of the boll upon its beginning are known as locules which can be 2-6 in variety. While the boll opens at adulthood, it yields a fluffy mass of fibers called lint with seeds Lint + seed is called seed cotton at the same time as seeds are known as cotton seeds. It contains 15% protein and 25% oil.

Economic Importance of Cotton:

In Pakistan function of cotton in GDP is 1% and in value, the addition is 5.1% location below cotton cultivation is two.917 million hectares, production in step 12 months is 10.074 million tones and yield in line with hectare is 587kg.
Pakistan is in 4th wide variety in cotton production.
China is the first maximum cotton generating us within international India and U.S.A. They are on 2nd and third range.
The middle area of cotton production in Pakistan is Multan, Khanewal, Vehari, Lodhran, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, D.G. Khan, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh, Layyah, and Rahimyar Khan.

Climate and Locality:

Grow in Tropical and sub-tropical regions.
Soil temperature must be 15-20 degree Celsius.
Harvesting app. 150-200 days.

Properties of soil for cotton growth:

It grows well in fertile soil.
It ranges from sandy to very heavy clays.
The best cotton lands are the mixtures of clay and sandy loam.

Production Technology of Cotton:

Seed-bed preparation:

Deep plowing should be carried out to break a hard pan because its root penetrates deep into the soil. The steps for land preparation are 1 rotavator, 3 cultivations, and a pair of plankings.

Sowing time and varieties:

A) Early sowing: 15 March - 15 May additionally

Early sowing varieties: Ali Akbar-703, Sitara-008, Neelum-121, Tarzan-1, MNH- 886, VH- 259, BH-178, CIM-599, CIM-602, FH-118, FH-142, IR NIAB- 824, IUB-222, Sitara 11M, A -555, K2-181, Sayban-201, Tarzan-2

B) Late sowing: 15th April - 15th May can also be done.

Late sowing varieties: IR-3701, MG-6, Ali Akbar-802, GN Hybrid-2085

Recommended sowing time for higher Punjab is April, for critical Punjab, it can also and for South Punjab is May and June

Seed Rate:

6-10 kg/acre for bed sowing
8-12 kg/acre for drill sowing.

Sowing methods:

Bed Sowing
Drill Sowing

1. Bed Sowing:

Ridge to Ridge distance = 60-75 cm
Plant to Plant distance = 9-12 inches
After the seed mattress, beds are made through ridge-bed shaper which makes 75 cm huge bed furrows. Furrow intensity is 7 inches. On both margins of beds, sowing can be accomplished manually by using labor, or a mattress planter may be used.
In the case of manual sowing, irrigation is implemented in furrows and just after irrigation, 2-four seeds are sown manually 2.5 cm above the water stage.
In the planter sowing, sowing is executed on both the beds' margins using a bed planter. After sowing, irrigation is applied in furrows 5 cm beneath the seed.

2. Drill Sowing:

Row to Row distance = 75 cm
P to P distance = 6-9 inches (through thinning at 20-25 DAS)
Seed intensity 2-2.5 inches
After first irrigation, it is earthing up that needs to be executed in alternate rows to make beds. Its miles managed to keep irrigation water up to twenty-30% and excess water will be tired out.

Fertilizer Application:

For early sowing apply 161 N, 46-70 P2O5, and 50 kg/acre K2O
For late sowing use 80 N, 35-58 P2O5, and 38 kg/acre K2O
P and K use whole at first and N applies in 3 terms
1/3 at sowing
1/3 at first irrigation
1/3 at flowering
If deficiency signs and symptoms of B and Zn seem, those ought to be carried out through foliar utility at forty-five, 60, and 90 days after sowing. Boric acid (17%) @ 300g per100L water (five kg) and ZnSO4 (33%) @ 250 g per a hundred L water (6 kg)

Irrigation:

6-8 irrigations are required for cotton in both methods.

Measures for Plant Protection:

Weeds:

These can reason up to 20-30% loss in cotton yield due to weeds.
Essential weeds of cotton are Itsit, deela, tandla, lehli, chulai, kulfa, madhana, lumb ghaas, hazardani, chibber, parthinam, makro, hulhul etc.

Physical Control:

Hoeing through khurpa or kasula

Chemical Control:

A) Pre-emergence herbicides: those are carried out earlier than crop emergence within 24 hrs of crop sowing

1. Pendimethalin @ 1L/A both for large-leaved weeds and grasses

2. S-metolachlor @ 800ml/A each for enormous leaved weeds and grasses

3. Pendimethalin + S-metolachlor (dual gold) @ 800ml/A

4. Acetochlor+ Pendimethalin @1L/A

B) Post-emergency herbicides:

1. Haloxyfop @350 ml/A for grasses

2. Quizilafop-p-ethyl 15EC @ one hundred-a hundred and twenty ml/A for all weeds

3. Quizilafop-p-ethyl 5EC @ four hundred-500 ml/A for all weeds

Insect Pests:

1. Sucking bugs:

Aphid, jassid, whitefly, thrips, mites, mealy insects, dusky cotton malicious program
A spray of Confidor, Imdacloprid, Buperofezin, Acetamiprid, Talstar, and many others.

2. Borers:

I noticed bollworms, red bollworms, American bollworms, military worm
A spray of Karate, Cypermethrin, Spinosad, Chlorpyrifos

Diseases and their Symptoms:

Verticillium wilt: A fungal disorder that reasons yellowing and wilting of leaves and stems.

Fusarium wilt: A fungal disease that influences the roots and stem of the plant, inflicting yellowing, wilting, and eventual death.

Bacterial blight: A bacterial disorder that reasons yellowing and wilting of leaves and might additionally cause plant death.

Cotton leafroll dwarf virus: A viral ailment that reasons stunting and yellowing of the plant.

Target spot is a fungal disease that reasons circular spots at the leaves, mainly defoliation, and decreased yield.

Alternaria leaf spot: A fungal sickness that reasons round or irregularly fashioned darkish spots at the leaves, which can cause defoliation and decreased yield.

Harvesting:

The primary steps in the cotton harvesting manner are:

Maturity assessment: The cotton flowers are monitored for adulthood and boll beginning to determine the most useful time for harvesting.
Cutting: The cotton flowers are cut with the use of either a mechanical cotton picker or a guide cotton stripper. The mechanical picker makes use of a rotating drum to cast off the cotton bolls from the plant, while the manual stripper involves manually doing away with the bolls by hand.
Gathering: The harvested cotton bolls are amassed into massive piles or into cotton modules, which are large cylindrical bales of cotton.
Transport: The harvested cotton is transported to a gin (short for "engine"), which is processed to separate the cotton fibers from the seeds and different plant debris.
Ginning: The gin uses a mixture of mechanical and manual methods to separate the cotton fibers from the seeds and other plant particles.
Baling: The wiped-clean cotton fibers are then compressed into bales, which are packaged and saved for later use within the manufacturing of cotton products.

The timing and methods used for cotton harvesting can affect the first class and amount of cotton produced, so it's far critical to control the manner to maximize yields and limit waste cautiously.

Agri community

Saturday 4 February 2023

21. Cotton Production Technology