Complete production Technique of Cotton (BT,Desi)

Pakistan’s economy depends heavily on Cotton crop. The cotton having a share of 1.4 percent in
GDP and 6.7 percent in agriculture value addition is an important source of raw material to the
textile industry. During July-March 2013-14, textile industry fetched foreign exchange of US $
10.385 billion. During 2013-14, the crop was cultivated on an area of 2806 thousand hectares,
2.5 percent less than last year’s area of 2879 thousand hectares. The production stood at 12.8
million bales during the period 2013-14 against the target of 14.1 million bales, showing decline
of 9.2 percent against the target and decline of 2.0 percent over the last year production of 13.0
million bales (GOP-2014). The cotton production is decreased due to fall in the area sown which
is due to less rates of cotton nationally and internationally prevailed during last two years that
discouraged the growers to put more area under crop and shifting the area to maize and rice
crops in some districts of Punjab due to their better market returns.

Plant Population

PLANT TO PLANT ROW TO ROW PLANT

SOWING TIME
DISTANCE DISTANCE POPULATION/ACRE
Early Sowing
12-15 Inches 2 feet 6 Inches 14000-17500
(March)
Medium Sowing
9-12 Inches 2 feet 6 Inches 17500-23000
(April)
Late Sowing (1st-
6-9 Inches 2 feet 6 Inches 23000-35000
15th May)

Seed Rate

GERMINATION %AGE DELINTED SEED (KG/ACRE) FUZZY (KG/ACRE)

75 & Above 6 8
60 8 10
50 10 12
Delinting

Arrange 10% more seed for replanting due to any unforeseen reason

TYPE OF ACID QUANTITY

Commercial Sulfuric Acid 1 liter for 10 Kg fuzzy seed

Seed Treatment

Seed treatment is very important for cotton. Treat the seed with insecticide i.e. Escort @ 5g/kg
seed or Contest @ 7g/kg seed, to prevent the seed from whitefly and other insects. To protect the
seed from soil born & seed born seedling diseases, treat the seed with fungicide i.e., Terranil or
Combinex @ 5g/kg seed.

Land Preparation

To obtain adequate plant stand

 The land – free of stubbles, clods and well pulverized

 Deep ploughing – In soil that restricts plant growth
 Green manuring 25-35 days before planting
 Properly leveled Field – for uniform application of irrigation
 Single Rouni: Deeply ploughed or green manured fields
 Double Rouni: Fallow fields or after wheat crop

Sowing methods

(1)Sowing with Drill

With drill sowing,

 Keep the row to row distance 2.5 feet

 Keep the seed depth 2-2.5 Inch (5-7cm)
 After 1st irrigation, earth up the soil at alternate lines
Benefits of Drill Sowing

 It saves water 20-30%

 Make Weed control easier
 Proper crop height
 Better use of fertilizer
 Easy to spray
 More Production

(2)Sowing at Ridges

(i)For Ridge sowing with Machine

 Field should be level

 Sow at dry ridges
 Keep the water level of first irrigation, 2 inch below from the seed
 2nd irrigation should provide after 5-6 days

(ii)Ridge Sowing with hand (Chopa)

 In case of sowing with hand, first irrigate the field at the depth of 6-7 inches (15-17.5cm)
 Just after the irrigation, sow the seed 1 inch above the water level
 Keep the water level of first irrigation, 2 inch below from the seed
 Fill the gaps after 2nd irrigation in wattar condition

Benefits of Ridge Sowing

 Attain Good seed germination and full plant population

 Sowing can be done at more area in less time
 Water saving as compared to traditional sowing
 Saves from loss due to rain
 Saves from seed wastage
 Spray is easy incase of rain and irrigation
Sowing Time

Non-Core Area

Faisalabad, T.T. Singh, Jhang, Sahiwal, Okara, Kasur, Pakpattan Month of May and Bhakkar,
Mianwali, Khushab Mid April

Core- Area

Multan, Khanewal, Vehari, Lodhran, Bahawalnagar, May to Mid June

Bahawalpur, D.G. Khan, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh, Layyah, R.Y. Khan,

Desi Cotton

Lahore Division, Mianwali, Sargodha, Gujrat, M B Din, Khushab 2nd week of April

Irrigations

METHOD OF
IRRIGATIONS
SOWING
Provide 1st irrigation after 30-35 days after sowing, and provide rest of
Drill Sowing irrigations after 12-15 days. Provide last irrigation after 10th October if
wheat has to cultivate after cotton.
Provide 1st irrigation 3-4 days after sowing, provide 2nd 3rd & 4th irrigation
Sowing on after 6-9 days interval and provide rest of irrigation after 15 days interval.
ridges Provide last irrigation after 15th October if wheat has to cultivate after
cotton.
Fertilizers

(For Sowing between 15th March to 15th April)

Nutrient Requirement / Acre

Land
(Kgs) Fertilizer Dose/Acre (In Bags)
Nature
N P (p2o5) K (K20)
3 Bag DAP + 5.75 Bag Urea + 2 Bag
Week 161 70 50
Potassium Salphate
2.5 Bag DAP + 6 Bag Urea + 2 Bag
Medium 161 58 50
Potassium Salphate
2 Bag DAP + 6.25 Bag Urea + 2 Bag
Rich 161 46 50
Potassium Salphate

(For Sowing between 15th April to 15th May)

Nutrient Requirement / Acre

Land
(Kgs) Fertilizer Dose/Acre (In Bags)
Nature
N P (p2o5) K (K20)
2.5 Bag DAP + 2.5 Bag Urea + 1.5 Bag
Week 80 58 38
Potassium Salphate
2 Bag DAP + 2.75 Bag Urea + 1.5 Bag
Medium 80 46 38
Potassium Salphate
1.5 Bag DAP + 3 Bag Urea + 1.5 Bag
Rich 80 35 38
Potassium Salphate

 The quantity of Nitrogen will depend upon the variety and soil test.
 Nitrogen should be applied 1/3 at sowing, 1/3 at 1st irrigation and 1/3 at flowering
 Application of Nitrogen fertilizers should be completed by 15th August
 Phosphate fertilizers need not to be applied to cotton crop if its full dose was applied to
wheat crop
 Potash should be applied after soil test.
  Potash fertilizer should be added at planting to soils showing less than 125 ppm available
K

Micronutrients

 To fulfill the deficiency of Zinc use EDTA Chelated zinc “Select”@2kg/acre

 Boron deficiency can be reduced by using “Direx”@500mL/acre.

Weed Control

 To control weeds, pre-emergence herbicides i.e. TOP MAX @ 900mL/acre must be use
just after planting
 Efficient weed control requires uniform application of weedicides with flat fan or flood
jet nozzle and proper incorporation

SEEDBED PREPARATION
Seedbed preparation is the most important phase for the successful yield from a land. The soil
selected for the cultivation for cotton should be well prepared before sowing the seed. The soil
should be porous in nature and allow root penetration for normal plant stand.
The residues of previous crops should be mixed well in the soil with some rotavator, disc
plough or some other plough. Seedbed should be prepared through deep ploughing followed by
laser land levelling.
The soil should have good water holding capacity and there should be no hard pan in the
subsoil layer. In case of green manure crops, the crop should be ploughed into the soil 30 days
prior to seed sowing of cotton and the field should be irrigated after 10 days of ploughing. To aid
the decomposition process, half bag of urea should be mixed during ploughing.

SEED SOWING
The time of sowing is very critical for a healthy crop stand. It is usual practice among farmers to
sow cotton after the harvest of vegetables or when the field is fallow or early sowing is done to
avoid virus attack. The important thing is to avoid the low chilling temperatures because cotton
favors hot summer temperature with no frost. In case of temperatures as low as 15oC , there are
possibilities of fungal attack which can destroy the crop at seedling stage. So the minimum
temperatures at the time of sowing should not be less than 20oC. The selection of the variety, Bt
or other should be made depending upon the previous years cropping history.

NOTE: At the time of sowing the field with Bt cotton varieties at least 15-20% traditional cotton
varieties should also be sown along the Bt cotton varieties so that the pests does not break the
resistance level of Bt varieties. In case of two varieties sown together, spray pesticides at when
the pests' population reach economic threshold level.

TIME OF SOWING
The time of sowing for different Bt cotton varieties is varying from 15 April to 15 May.

SEED-RATE
The seed rate for a particular variety should be according to the package label of seed. Healthy,
certified and treated seeds should be obtained from trusted sources.

METHOD OF SOWING
1. Seed Drill

Seed drill should be used. With the drill, the recommended row to row distance is 2-2.5ft and
plant to plant distance is 12-15 inches. The seed should be drilled to a depth of 2.5 inches in
ground. After the first irrigation of field, the alternate seed rows are earthen down with soil
(/make furrows and ridges). This practice helps to reduce water consumption 30-40%. Other
benefits include, good management of weeds, cotton plants of same height, no. of plants per acre
is good, and this practice also facilitates other cultural practices in the field like spraying
pesticides. Second irrigation should be given 3-4 days after first irrigation of field.

2. Sowing by Hand (‫)چوپا‬

For sowing by hands, the field should be made into furrow and ridges, then irrigate the 6-7
inches deep furrows. After irrigating the field, sown the seeds by hand at a height of 1 inch from
the standing water level of the field. If gaps are left in the field, they should be filled with next
irrigation. The furrow method of sowing has same benefits as mentioned with the seed drill
method.
Sowing by hands is helpful in reducing the seed used for sowing. The number of plants per acre
are good and the practices like spraying and weeding can be done with rain or irrigation water in
the field. Proper crop growth is achieved.

FILLING THE GAPS

The seeds germinate within 4-5 days of sowing in wattar condition. If gaps are seen in the field,
then make hole in the soil for seed and put 5-6hr water soaked seed in it; cover it with moist soil.

In case of seed drill, a long row or portion is not sown with seeds, then a single drill tube can be
used to drill the row again.

No time should be wasted in filling of gaps in the field because, once the wattar condition is
gone, the seeds will not germinate properly which will result in lesser no. of plants per acre.

THINNING
Thinning in cotton field is very important. The number of plant should be according to the
recommended count. This is helpful for proper management of pests. Thinning should be
completed within 20-25 days of sowing and it should be done before irrigation. In case of viral
attack, thinning should be done after irrigation so that the diseased plants can be rouged.

WEEDS OF COTTON
Cotton suffers sever attack from the serious attack of pests and virus. These viruses and pests are
firstly present on the weeds present along the banks of fields, water channels and roads. The
management of these weeds is important w.r.t control of pests and virus on cotton. The common
weeds of cotton are Itsit (Trianthema portulacastrum), Khabbal (Cynodon dactylon), Madhana
ghass (Dactyloctenum aegyptium), Jangli cholai (Amaranthus viridis), Kulfa (Portulaca
oleracea), tandla (Digera arvensis), hazardani (Euphobia granulata). These weeds not only
compete with the crop plants but also serve as secondary habitat for cotton pests and viruses.
These weeds should be eradicated by hoeing in wattar condition or hoeing in dry conditions both
are equally beneficial.

IRRIGATION
Fields should be irrigated according to the soil fertility, method of sowing, stage of crop and
water requirements of the crop. The signs of water deficiency are first visible on the upper bank
of the field, which include bluish appearance of leaves, the internode distance decreases in the
upper branches of the main stem, white flowers at the top, reddening of the upper part of stem
and roughness of leaves at the top. The field should be irrigated before these signs are visible to
avoid loss in production.

In case of row cropping, first irrigation is given after 30-35 days of sowing and latter after a gap
of 10-12 days. And in case cotton-wheat cropping system, last irrigation should be given till 10
october.

In case of furrow beds, first irrigation is at 2-4 days of seed sowing, second after 6-9 days and
subsequent irrigation should be given at 15 days interval.

Irrigation scheduling should can be changed according to the prevailing weather conditions.

FERTILIZER APPLICATION - TIME AND METHOD

Phosphorus, zinc, boron and potash should be completely given at the time of sowing.

For Early sowing,

Nitrogen should be applied in 6 splits. First, with sowing, 2nd after 30-35 days of sowing and
later nitrogen dose should be given at the gap an irrigation each.

For sowing in May,

Split nitrogen in 4 doses.

First dose with sowing, 2nd after 30-35 days of sowing, 3rd at the formation of floral buds, and
4th at boll formation.

Phosphatic fertilizer should be used mixed with farm yard manure (FYM).

Green manuring should be done to increase the organic matter contents of the field which will be
helpful to increase effectiveness of the fertilizer application. It has been found that fertilizer
application during evening is more beneficial.

In case of viral attack, half bag of urea should be given with initial four irrigations.
ZINC AND BORON DEFICIENCY OF COTTON
Zinc and boron can also be sprayed in the field if symptoms of deficiency are visible. In this
case, spraying should be done at about 45, 60 and 90th day of seed sowing. The formulation can
be easily made as follows;

Boric acid - 300 gram

Zinc sulfate (33%) - 250 gram

Sodium bicarbonate (ordinary caustic soda) - 50 gram

Water - 100 litres

Mix them in a tank and spray in the field. Pesticides should not be mixed in this solution for
spraying. Spray the field in the morning or evening only because spraying in mid day can cause
burning of leaves.

TOPPING
It refers to the removal of the tips of the main stem, alone or together with the tips of the main
branches, a few weeks before the bolls begin to open. This practice, also called pruning is done
to ensure a redistribution of the nutritive substance in the plant. It reduces shedding of buds and
bolls, improves the light reaching down, accelerates the opening of the bolls, reduces lodging
and increase yields.

PICKING/ HARVESTING
Cotton bolls in the same fields open at different times. There is a gap of at least 2 months before
first and last boll opens. Thus picking should also be done in accordance, at least 2-3 pickings
are required to completely harvest the crop. Picking of cotton usually start in September and
continues till December or even January. Picking can be both manual or mechanized. The lint
from the first and last pickings should be kept separate because the fibre from the last picking is
of comparatively low quality w.r.t first one or two pickings.