Package and practices

of Cotton
 Introduction
 Cotton : Gossypium spp.
 Family: Malvaceae
 Referred as ‘The king of fibers' &
'white gold'
 Chromosome number:
 Desi cotton (G. Arboreum & G.
herbaceum) is n=13
 American cotton (G. hirsutum & G.
barbadense) is n=26
 Economic IMPORTANCE
Cotton is one of the most important fiber and cash crop of India and plays a
dominant role in the industrial and agricultural economy of the country.

It provides the basic raw material (cotton fibre) to cotton textile industry.

Cotton in India provides direct livelihood to 6 million farmers and about 40 -50
million people are employed in cotton trade and its processing.

It generates employment for about 60 million people either directly or

indirectly involved in the agricultural and industrial sector of cotton
production, processing, textile and related activities.
 Economic IMPORTANCE Conti...

 It is the oldest among the commercial crops of the world.

 Cotton is chiefly grown for its use in the manufacture of cotton for the
mankind.
 It is also used for making the reads, for mixing with other fibers and
extraction of oil from cottonseed.
 Oil content ranges from 15–25% depending upon the varieties.
 Cottonseed cake after oil extraction is a good organic manure and
contains about 6% N, 3% P and 2% K. Cottonseed, cotton linters and
pulp are good cattle feeds.
 Origin and History

• Cotton has been used as a fiber in India from time immemorial.

• It has been cultivated for more than 5000 years in Indus valley.

• Origin : India (1500 BC)

• Distribution: from India to Egypt, Spain and Italy

• Important cotton growing countries are India, USA, Russia, China,

Brazil, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Mexico and Sudan. These
countries nearly account for 85% of total cotton production.
 Area and Distribution
 India is the largest cotton growing country in the world. It ranks third in production
next to China and U.S (with a share of 12% at global production).
 In the world, Cotton is cultivated in 31.42 m. ha with a total production 111.4 Million
bales (480 lb.) of seed cotton (UASD, 2020-21) with productivity 772 kg lint/ha.
 Among the cotton growing countries, China occupies 1 st place in production (UASD,
2020-21). Whereas, India occupies the foremost position in area and the area under
cotton is 13.01 m. ha. (more than 65% of cotton in rainfed) with the productivity is
462 kg lint/ha and production is 35.38 million bales (MA&FW, GOI, 2020-21).
 Maharashtra is the largest producer and cultivator of cotton followed by Gujarat,
Telangana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Haryana, MP and Andra Pradesh.
 Major cotton growing zones
• Three zones, viz. north zone, central zone and south zone.

• North zone --- Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.

• Central zone --- Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

• South zone --- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

• Besides these ten States, cotton cultivation has gained momentum in the Eastern
State of Orissa.

• Cotton is also cultivated in small areas of non-traditional States such as Uttar

Pradesh, West Bengal & Tripura
Cotton Morphology
 Botanical terms
 Square: Flower buds which appear as small, pyramidal shaped
green structures. Square consists of three triangular shaped leafy
structure known as bracteoles and the flower bud.
 Boll: fruit of cotton
 Cotton fiber is simply an elongation or outgrowth of an epidermal
cell of the seed coat.
 The long outgrowth forms the staple or lint.
 Shorter outgrowth forms fuzz.
 Cultivated Species
• There are four cultivated species of cotton viz.

1. Gossypium arboreum, are diploid (2n=26) and are native to old world also known
as Asiatic cottons because they are grown in Asia.
2. G.herbaceum,
are tetraploid (2n=52) and are also referred to as New World
3. G. hirsutum Cottons. also known as American cotton or upland cotton and
G.barbadense as Egyptian cotton or Sea Island cotton or
4. G. barbadense. Peruvian Cotton or Tanguish Cotton or quality cotton

• G. hirsutum is the predominant species which alone contributes about 90% to the global
production.
• Perhaps, India is the only country in the world where all the four cultivated species are
grown on commercial scale.
 Classification
 Gossypium arboreum (n = 13) Desi cotton
 Gossypium herbaceum (n = 13) Desi cotton.
 Gossypium hirsutum (n = 26) American cotton
 Gossypium barbadense (n = 26) American cotton

1. G. arboreum: Plant height is 1.5–2 m, leaves have seven lobes, leaves and twigs are
pubescent, fibres are coarse and short with 1.25–2.10 cm length. It covers 29% of cotton
area in the country.
2 G. herbaceum: Plant height is 1–1.5 m. Leaves and twigs sparsely hairy. Leaves have 3–6
lobes. Fiber length is 1.25–2.30 cm. It covers 21% of the cotton area.
3. G. hirsutum: It is commonly called as “American cotton” and plants are 1.5 m tall. Leaves
and twigs are densely hairy. Leaves have 3–5 lobes. Fiber length is 1.8–3.1 cm. It covers
about 50% of the cotton area.
4. G. Barbadense: It is commonly called as ‘Sea Island Cottons”. Plants are about 2.5 m tall.
Leaves are deeply lobed with 3–5 lobes and fiber length is 3.6–5.0 cm. Lint is readily
detachable from the seeds. Area is only few thousand ha.
 Climate
• Cotton is a warm season crop and a semi-xerophyte, grows in tropical & sub tropical
conditions.
• A minimum temperature of 15-16°C is required for better germination at field
conditions.
• The optimum temperature for vegetative growth is 21-27°C & it can tolerate upto
43°C but temperature below 21°C is detrimental to the crop.
• During fruiting, day temp ranging from 27–32°C and cool nights are required.
• Warm days of cool nights with large diurnal variations during the period of fruiting
are conducive to good boll & fibre development.
• Abundant sunshine during the period of ball maturation and harvesting is
essential for obtaining good quality produce.
• Cotton cannot with stand frost and its cultivation is restricted up to 1000 m. altitude.
 Soil Requirement
• Cotton is grown on a variety of soils. Cotton can be successfully grown on
all soils except the sandy, saline and water logged soils. Cotton is semi-
tolerant to salinity and sensitive to water logging. Thus prefers well drained
soils.
• It is grown in sandy loam, clay loam, loam, alluvial soil, black cotton soil
and in red sandy loam soils.
• Well drained deep alluvial soils in the north zone, Black clayey soils of
varying depth in central region and Black and mixed black and red soils in
south zone.
• Cotton needs a soil with good moisture holding capacity.
• Good drainage and aeration are also essential as it cannot withstand water
logging.
• pH-5.5-8.5
 Varieties
State G. hirsutum G. arboreum Hybrids
Andra Pradesh Kanchan, LK 861, NA Arvind, Mahanandi, Savita, HB 224NHB 80
920 Srisailam
Gujarat G. Cot 16, G. cot 18 G cot. 17 & 21 H8, H10
Haryana H 777, H1117 D 55, HD 107 Dhanlaxmi, Omshankar
Rajasthan G.N. Ageti, B. Narma RG 8&18 Maru vikas, Raj DH 7
Punjab F 414, LH 900, F 505, LD 327, LD 491 Dhanlaxmi, Fateh,
F 846 LHH 144
UP Vikas Rohit, Shamli -
Maharashtra Arogya, Rajat Ek nath, Joyti, H4, 5, NHH 44, 302
Rohini
Karnataka Sharda, Sahana Raichur 51, G DCH 32, DHH 11, HB
27AKA 235 224
 Punjab region
 American cotton: F-414, LH-900, F-505, LH-886, LH-1134,
F-846, LH-1556.
 Desi cotton: LD-230,LD-327, LD-491
 Hybrids: Dhan laxmi, Fateh, LDH-11, LHH-144, LD-694
 Cropping system
North India
•Cotton- Wheat
•Cotton – Berseem
•Cotton – Chick pea
•Cotton – Field pea
•Cotton – Linseed
South India
•Cotton-Sorghum-Ragi (most common)
 Field preparation
 Cotton is a deep rooted crop , require well prepared seedbed .
The field after the harvest of preceding crop should be
ploughed 15-20 cm deep with mould board plough.
 3-4 harrowing’s and 1 planking to make the soil pulverized
and leveled .
 No stubbles of previous crop should be left in the field.
 Sowing time and method
• Northern region: 1st fortnight of May except H 777, H 974 and H 1098: can be
sow up to 25th of May

• Central zone (Irrigation): 15 to 25th May

• Rainfed cotton should be sown within onset of Monsoon

Methods of sowing:

Drilling the seeds in row

Line sowing with seed drill

Depth od sowing: 4-5 cm

 Seed treatment (Scarification/Acid Delinting):
• Before sowing the seeds should be treat with Conc. Sulphuric acid at the rate of 70 to 100 ml per kg of
fuzzy seeds up to 6-12 min.
• This delinting process can also reduces the pink bollworm population and also killing hibernating
larvae in seeds.
• Chose plastic basket for acid delinting. Don’t use earthenware and metal vessels. Put the required
quantity of seeds in the container and add commercial concentrated H 2SO4 at 70-100 ml per kg of
fuzzy seeds.
• Stir vigorously and continuously with wooden stick for 2–3 minutes still the fuzzy sticking to the
seeds is completely digested and the seed coat attain a dark brown color of coffee seeds after roasting.
• Add water to fill container, drain the acid water and repeat the washing 4–5 times to remove the acid
completely.
• Remove the floating seeds while the healthy and good seeds remain in the bottom.
• Drain the water completely and dry the delinted seeds in shade.
• Soak the seed thoroughly for 2 hours in solution of 5g Emisan, 1g streptocycline, 1g succinic
acid in 10 litres of water at the rate of 6-8 kg delinted seed.
 Seed treatment (Scarification/Acid Delinting)conti…

• Remove the floating seeds

while the healthy and good
seeds remain in the bottom.
• Drain the water completely
and dry the delinted seeds
in shade.
• Soak the seed thoroughly
for 2 hours in solution of 5g
Emisan, 1g streptocycline,
1g succinic acid in 10 litres
of water at the rate of 6-8
kg delinted seed.
 Advantages

 Eliminates some externally seed borne pathogenic organisms.

 Kills eggs, larvae and pupae of pink boll worm.
 Helps to remove immature, ill filled and damaged seeds.
 Makes seed dressing more effective and easy.
 Facilitates easy sowing.
 After acid delinting, the seeds are treated with Carbendazim or
captan or Thiram at 2 g/kg of seeds.
Seed rate & Spacing of cotton
Which includes 150 gm of non Bt seed
**spacing differ depending on growth habit of particular hybrid.
 Thinning operation
• The thinning of the cotton crop is a special feature of the irrigated crop
sown on ridges in Peninsular India and in parts of southern Gujarat.

• Thinning is desirable for maintaining the optimum population of plants to

obtain a high yield.

• During thinning, the vigorous seedlings are retained and weak seedlings and
off types are removed
 Inter cultivation & weed control

• Weeds losses crop yield by 50-85%.

• Inter-cultivation is done fairly regularly by either a blade harrow with

a three tined hoe or a desi plough.

• In the crop sown by broadcasting, one or two hand hoeing’s are given
to remove weeds.

• Inter-cultivation not only checks the growth of weeds but also leads to
better soil aeration and soil moisture conservation.
• Cotton is susceptible to weed competition from sowing to about 70
days (50-60 days) when the canopy covers the inter-spaces.

• Deep rooted perennial weeds are removed by summer ploughing.

• Fluchloralin or pendimethalin @ 1 kg ai/ha. as pre-plant

incorporation with one hand weeding recommended for satisfactory
weed control.

• Basalin @ 1kg a.i/ha, Diuron @ 0.5-1 kg , Alachlor 1.5-3 kg a.i /ha in

1000 litres of water used as pre plant sprays.
Nutrient management
Fertilizer Distribution
 Irrigation Scheduling
• Depending upon the climate & crop-growing period, cotton needs 700-1,200 mm water to
meet its maximum water requirement.
• The water requirement is low during first 60-70 days after sowing & highest during
flowering & boll development.
• It is commonly flood irrigated although irrigation by furrow or alternate furrow method is
more effective and water saving.
• Drip irrigation is becoming popular particularly in the hybrids for central and southern
zones.
• Irrigate at 50-70% depletion of available soil moisture.
• On sandy loam soils of northern zone 3-5 irrigations are commonly given.
• On red sandy loam soils (Tamil Nadu) with low water retention capacity, 4-13 light
irrigations may be necessary.
 Use of hormones
 NAA: It should be sprayed twice. First spray of 125 CC/ha at
flower appearance (2nd and 3rd week of august) and second spray
of 175 CC /ha 20 days after first spray) should be done. It helps in
better boll formation.
 Cycocel: To control vegetative growth, where vegetative growth in
case of American cotton is expected to be more than the normal
growth. Spray cycocel (50% CC) @ 32ml/ha dissolved in 320 litres
of water at square formation stage.
 Major Diseases
• Wilt - Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. Vasinfectum
• Root rot - Rhizoctonia solani
• Anthracnose - Colletotrichum capsici
• Bacterial blight = Xanthomonas axonopodis pv.
malvacearum
 Major pests of cotton
1. Fruit borer: Helicoverpa armigera
2. Pink bollworm: Pectinophora gossypiella
3. Spotted bollworms: Earias vittella,
4. Spiny bollworm: Earias insulana
5. Stem borer: Sphennoptera gossypii
6. Cotton aphid: Aphis gossypii
 Harvest and Yield
• 3 to 4 pickings can be done

• 1st picking should be done in the beginning of Oct in N India, 2nd at Nov
and 3rd at 3rd week of Nov and final picking at 1st week of Dec.

• Picking should be done bolls begin to fully burst and kapas begins
hanging down

• 15 to 20 q seed cotton per ha.

• 25 to 30 q per ha for hybrids

• Yield of cotton lint is 560 kg per ha.