it is useful for student of textile engineering and agriculture engineering.

2. National textile university, Faisalabad
N t u

3. Cultivation and Harvesting
of Cotton Plant
By
M. Taha Bin Yaseen
Saleem Jafar
Muhammad Rahman Sajid
Usama Gill

4. Cultivation and Harvesting of Cotton Plant
• Introduction
• Conditions for Cultivation
• Life cycle of Cotton
• Cultivation process
• Insect Pests and Diseases
• Picking and Harvesting

5. Introduction:
• Cotton is a plant, it grows wild in many places on the earth, but it has been
known about, cultivated and put to use by people of many lands for centuries.
• Archaeologists have also found cloth fragments in the Indus Valley of India
(Pakistan) dating about 3000 B.C. In 1500 B.C.
• Most economical and socially important crop in the world.
• Cotton known as “king of fibers” and belong to a genus “ Gossypium.”
• Important Cash crop of Pakistan known as “White Gold.”

6. National Textile University
Cotton in Pakistan:
• Pakistan is the fourth largest producer of cotton in the world with average
production of 1,610TMT (Thousand MetricTon).
• Pakistan is also the fourth largest consumer of cotton, with average
consumption of 1,573TMT.
• An average Pakistan imports 92TMT and exports 98TMT.
• The province of Punjab accounts for the majority of the nation’s production,
producing 85 percent of Pakistan's total cotton, while the province of Sind
produces the other 15% of Pakistan's cotton.

7. Conditions for Cultivation:
• Climate:
Cultivation up to 1000m from sea level.
Temperature for germination of seed is 16°C.
• Soil:
Soil should be water holding and has retention toward moisture.
Medium loams to sandy loam fertile soils are best for cotton
cultivation.
Alkaline and saline soils are not suitable for cotton cultivation.
• Land preparation:
Plough the field with deep plough then harrowed with planking
each time to make the soil loose, fine, leveled for successful
germination.
Remove all the stubbles of the previous crop left in the field.

8. Seed and sowing conditions
• Seed selected for sowing should be free from diseases, pests, cuts or
damages etc.
• In southern parts of the country cotton sowing is started fromApril and
then upward to the northern parts ends in May.
• Before cotton sowing seed should be soaked in water for about 9 to 15
hours and then sowing is done.
Manual sowing Auto sowing

9. Life cycle of cotton plant.
seed
seedling
Small plant
plant
Flower

10. Cultivation process:
• 1.sowing:
Sowing of cotton is done from April to May before sowing seeds of cotton are soaked
in water for about 9 to 15 hours.
• 2.germination:
After the seeds planted it takes around 5-10 days to germinate.
• 3.seedling:
After germination the initial leave will help the roots to develop. After this more leave
appear.This
Will take 2-4 weeks.
• 4.square:
Flower buds called squares will appear on plant within 5-7 weeks.

11. Cultivation process:
• 5.Boll:
Boll begins to appear after germination. After
the boll stops growing, it will fill with cellulose.
• 6.Mature plant:
After the cellulose has filled the boll, the boll
bursts open and cotton spill out.After 25 weeks
cotton is ready to harvest.

12. Growth Stages
Growth Stages Days
Planting to emergence 4 – 9
Emergence to first square 27 – 28
Square to flower 20 – 25
Planting to first flower 60 – 70
Flower to boll open 45 – 65
Planting to 1st picking ready 125 – 135

13. Fertilizer Applications
For getting higher yield, it is very important to apply recommended dose of
fertilizer.
• 2.5 bags of Nitrogen at time of sowing, 2-3 bags of urea use in different
split i.e. squaring, flowering and boll formation stages.
• Potassium and micronutrient (Boron) should be applied on the basics of
soil analysis. Boron is very important for cotton.
National Textile University
Note:
The dose of Nitrogen and phosphorus can be increased or decreased
keeping in view the fertility of soil.

14. Insect Pests and Diseases:
• Boll worms
A single larva can damage 30-40 bolls.
• Pink Bollworm
The attacked buds and immature bolls drop off.
Discolored lint and burrowed seeds.
• Spotted Bollworms
Damage squares, flowers and bolls resulting in poor yield.
• Diseases
Cotton Leaf Curl Virus
Boll Rot Diseases
Root Rot

15. Boll worms
Pink Bollworm Spotted Bollworms
Cotton Leaf CurlVirus Boll Rot Disease Root Rot

16. Control on diseases
• Use of healthy seed, acid delinting and chemical seed treatment minimize
the disease incidence of seedling, root and boll rots as well as bacterial
blight.
• Proper use of irrigation and chemical fertilizers improves the disease
resistant power in cotton plants.
• Mixed cropping with kidney bean or fodder and leguminous crops saves the
cotton crop from root rot.

17. Picking and harvesting
• In Pakistan mostly cotton is picked manually but in developed countries
harvesting usually done mechanically.
• Cotton picking should start when dew has dried on cotton plants. Lower
bolls should be picked first to reduce the contamination of cotton with
leaves and dust.
• Before storing, which should be ensured that cotton has been completely
dried otherwise it can result in heat up of cotton thus damaging the lint and
seed.

18. Questions
?

19. Thank you!