Soil Selection:

Cotton can be grown on a wide range of soils. The soils of Pakistan are generally calcareous with high pH (alkaline) and low organic matter content. Cotton requires a large amount of moisture during flowering and fruiting stage for high yield of lint. Therefore, well drained loamy soils with adequate organic matter and good water holding capacity are best suited for cotton cultivation.

Soil Fertility Management:

Bury the residues of wheat in the soil with rotavator or disc harrow. Green manuring is also another approach for increasing organic matter and improving texture of soil. For this purpose, crops like Egypatian clover (barseem), Alfalfa (lucerne) etc. are grown in the field and at physiological maturity; these are buried in field using rotavator or disk plough one month prior to sowing of cotton. Half bag of Urea per acre is added followed by heavy irrigation and the field is left vacant for the decomposition of crop residues.

Variety Selection

Achievement of high economic production depends on selection of suitable variety. Varieties registered from federal seed certification department should only be selected for sowing. List of the approved and recommended varieties are given below:

Seed de-linting and seed germination test are essential for seed preparation.

Seed De-linting:

The seed should be acid de-linted in commercial sulfuric acid @ 1 liter for 10 kg of seed. Seed should be thoroughly washed and it is advised to use sinker seed. The seed rate should be adjusted according to germination of seed so that recommended plant population according to time of sowing of 23 to 25 thousand plants per acre is obtained.

Seed Germination Test:

The standard germination test provides the estimated percentage of seeds likely to emerge under warm growing conditions. Take small amount of seed from each bag and soak in water for 6-7 hours after mixing them. Take two clean water soaked towels. Place one towel on clean floor; put counted 100 seeds each on four corners of towel. Cover it with another wet towel. Apply water 2-3 times a day for proper moisture. Remove the upper towel after 5 days and find the germination percentage after observing the radicle appearance.

Table: Seed rate according to germination %age:

Germination (%age)	De-linted Seed(kg / acre)	Linted Seed (kg / acre)
90	5	8-5
75	6-7	8-10
60	8-9	10-12
50	10-11	12-15




Germination and Emergence:

When moisture is available to cotton seed, it will begin to geminate. Emergence is started when the cotyledons after breaking the soil surface come out of soil. The optimum soil temperature for seed germination is 28-34oC.

Tillage Operation

The land preparation is started with deep ploughing using mould board and disc plough in soils with hard pan. The land should be free of stubbles, clods and well pulverized: Laser land leveler is the best implement for leveling and grading of soil to ensure precise slope to enable uniform application of irrigation water. Green manuring should be done 25-35 days before planting.

Sowing Time:

Cotton should be planted from 15th April to 31st May with the exception of districts of Layyah, Bhakar, Mianwali and Khushab where cotton should be planted earlier to avoid windstorm damage to seedlings. Early sowing of cotton is discouraged due to PBW infestation.

Besides availability of water, cotton should be planted on bed and furrows. The drill sown cotton can be converted into bed and furrows either before 1st irrigation or immediately after 1st irrigation. This will economize the irrigation water up-to 40%. Plant to plant distance should be 22.5cm and row-to-row distance of 75 cm, Seed depth should be from 4-5 cm deep.

Bed Furrow Planting Methods

This is important for slightly salt affected soils, it has many advantages over drill planting like low seed rate, better germination, low weeds infestation and water drainage during rainy season.

Plant Population Management:

Plant population of 23000-25000 plants per acre should be maintained. Thinning should be completed within 20-25 days of planting by removing diseased and week plants.

Fertilizer use should be based on the soil analysis report. There is network of soil testing labs in all provinces.

Table: A general recommendation for fertilizers application given below:

Time of sowing	Nitrogen(Kg/acre)	Phosphorous(Kg/acre)	Potash(Kg/acre)
Early sowing (March)	161	46-70	If < 50 ppm then 50 kg
Seasonal Sowing	80	35-58	If < 50 ppm then 38kg




Phosphorous and potash in the form of single supper phosphate (SSP) or triple supper phosphate (TSP) and sulphate of potash (SOP), respectively should be preferred. Phosphorous is mainly required for root development whereas potash creates tolerance in the plant against stresses and also helps in fibre development. Nitrogen is the major element of plant and its requirement is high at peak boll formation. The important minor elements like boron, zinc and magnesium are also essential for harvesting good yield of the crop. The following points should be considered regarding fertilizer application;

• Apply whole of phosphorous and 4th of nitrogen at the time of sowing /land preparation.
• K can be applied at the time of sowing, but for better results it should be used in two split doses, i.e., 15 days interval at the start of boll formation.
• N should be applied in split dozes, i.e., 1/4th at the time of sowing and rest at flowering and boll setting at 15 days interval. To prevent wastage of “N” apply it with side placement drill through ridger at wattar (field capacity) condition or through fertigation.
• Borax @ 3.5 kg/acre and zinc sulphate (33%) @ 5kg /acre or 21% 10kg acre through soil is recommended. Foliar application of 300 g of borax, 200 g of zinc sulphate and magnesium sulphate will help in proper growth of plant and fruit setting.

Deficiency symptoms of nitrogen, potash and phosphorous are given below:

Nitrogen:

Light green lower leaves with yellow stalk and stunted growth.

Phosphorous:

Plants have dark yellow lower leaves with usually a small red or yellow colored stalk.

Potassium:

Leaves chlorotic or mottled necrotic spots between the veins or near the margins.

Crop irrigation requirements vary widely with areas and water holding capacity of soil.

• Cotton requires 800-1000 mm water during crop period. In Pakistan, normally the cultivation of cotton is done under irrigated conditions, but normal rainfall is very helpful for obtaining optimum yields of cotton.
• About 10 irrigations supplying 240 mm of water (depending upon soil conditions) are needed and rest of the water is fulfilled through rains during the season.
• For seasonal crop, main requirement of irrigation is in the month of June, July, August and September (to avoid water stress during critical stages i.e. flowering and fruiting).
• Last irrigation should not be given after the opening of about 33% bolls.
• Irrigation applied in furrows rather than flooding results in 25% saving of water and also more efficient utilization of nutrients.
• The conditions of crop for irrigation are dark green colour of leaf, small internodal distance, and irrigate the field before white flower appears at the top of plant.
• Irrigation interval should not be more than 15 to 21 days because plant should not be water stressed.

The crops in Pakistan suffer on an average loss of 10-15% due to weeds whereas cotton crop suffers yield loss of 31-41%. Weeds consume 5-6 times nitrogen, 5-12 times phosphorus and 2-5 times potash more than cotton crop, reducing seed yield 54-85%, affecting fibre quality. They compete with crops for light, nutrients, water and carbondioxide. Weed seeds stay dormant for long time, germinate earlier, grow faster, form seeds in abundance and scatter seeds before maturity of main crop. To avoid economic losses weeds should be controlled properly.

The first step in weed control is the identification of weeds. Some weeds of cotton crop are given below:

Localname	EnglishName	BotanicalName
Deela	Sedge grass	Cyperus rotundus L.
Bhakhra	Puncture vine	Tribulus terrestris L.
Bhangro	Trailing Eclipta	Eclipta alba L.
Dangani	Cockle bur	Xanthium strumarium L.
Daterd	Jew’s mallow	Corchorus trilocularis L
Dubh	Deep root grass	Desmostachya L.
Gum	Johnson grass	Sorghum halepense L.
Khabbal ghass	Lawn grass	Cynodon dactylon pers L.
Lehli	Bind weed	Convolvulus arvensis L.
Lunak	Purselane	Portulaca oleracea L.
Mariro	Amaranths	Amaranthus
Mundheri	Wild Jute	Corchorus depressus L.
Swanki	Jungle rice	Echinochloa Colunum L.
Tandla	Digera	Digera arvensis L.
Waho	Carpet weed	Trianthema monogyna L.
Mandhano	Gosse grass	Eleusine indica L.




Weed Management:

An integrated weed management programme is based on use of all possible methods of weed control. There are several advantages of integrated weed control strategies in cotton like cost-effective, environment-friendly and safe for humans and animals. All weed control methods should be used by farmers in the integrated way for successful weed control in cotton.

Mechanical Control:

Mechanical cultivation provides an efficient tool for weed control. In this case intense care should be taken such that crop roots are not damaged.

Picking:

Mechanical picking collects bits of bolls, twigs and leaves at the same time as the seed cotton, and more subsequent cleaning is required than with hand-picked cotton. Hand-picking of seed cotton is labor-intensive, but is common in Pakistan which gives us clean seed cotton with no undesirable crop wastes. The following picking tips are very important;

• Picking must be done when more than 50% bolls are opened.
• Picking should be done from lower side towards top to avoid impurities such as dust and trash mixing in the seed cotton.
• Muslin cloth should be used for collection of seed cotton.
• The variety wise picking should be done and picked seed cotton must be labeled and kept variety wise separate and/or may be sent to the factory to maintain seed and lint of each variety.
• The picking of cotton should be done after drying of humidity and dew from the crop. In case of rainfall, the picking of seed cotton should not immediately be done but the crop and seed cotton must left to dry.
• The mixing of human hair at the time of picking cotton create problem during ginning, spinning and weaving.
• Unskilled picking must be avoided. In case of early picking, small staple length with shrinking quality would be obtained causing low seed germination and low edible oil content.
• Picked cotton should not be stored on wet soil nor placed on open place. In such condition cotton must be covered with cloth or plastic sheet at night time to avoid spoilage from dew and humidity but during day time such large cloth or plastic sheet must taken off for proper sun drying.

Seed Collection:

Seed plays vital role in high production. To get better seed, the following steps would be helpful;

• Seed of first picking of early sown variety should not be spared for next sowing.
• Seed of last picking of local or early variety should not be mixed with other cotton.
• Picking should start after 10 O’clock and before 4 O’ clock it should be stopped.
• Picked cotton should always be placed in dry place and in cotton bags.
• Never pick diseased, pest attacked bolls for seed collection.
• Rain affected bloomed bolls should not be picked for seed.
• Seed quality is poor when bolls are picked in fog.
• Clean machine properly to avoid any type of mixing of seed of any other variety.

Storage:

• After picking, sundry cotton, store in dry, ventilated and airy store.
• Store cotton made bags or either jute bags in such a way that air can easily pass through them.
• Place separately cotton of each variety.
• Never keep cotton open whether floor is cemented or not.