Cotton

• Light to heavy black soils is suitable for cotton cultivation, can also be successfully grown in light and alluvial soils.

• Sowing period is generally May-July
• Seed rate is 1.6-2 packets/acre
• Spacing- 90-105 cm between rows, 45-60 cm between plants in black soils and 30-45 cm in light soils.
• Gap Filling Gap filling must be done as early as possible by using 2 seeds/hill.

• NPK as per the table given below.
• Magnesium Deficiency Magnesium Sulphate @ 10g/ ltr. at 45 and 75 DAS may be sprayed to correct the deficiency
• Zinc Deficiency Zinc Sulphate @ 2g/ltr. may be sprayed twice at 5-6 day interval immediately after the deficiency symptoms are noticed.
• Boron Deficiency Spray Borax @ 60 and 90 DAS at 1-1.5 g/litre of water

• Adequate moisture availability during the critical stages of crop growth i.e., germination, seedling growth, flowering, boll formation and development are ensured.
• Cotton is susceptible to water stagnation for long duration, and therefore, care should be taken to drain the excess water from the field and intercultural operations should be done at the earliest.

• Disease Management – Cotton crop is affected by Alternaria blight, Phoma blight, Cercospora leaf spot, Helminthosporium leaf spot and Blackarm diseases after 90 to 100 days of crop growth.
• These can be controlled by spraying with Mancozeb (2.5g/ltr.) or Copper Oxychloride (3g/ltr.) + Plantamycin or Tetracycline or Paushamycin (100 mg/l).

• In India it is by manual picking, but cotton picking