Cotton is one of the most important crops in the world for both food and clothing. Almost every person wears clothes made from cotton, so this crop needs to be monitored very carefully by farmers and governments to ensure that it remains a popular choice for clothing production. The fiber is most often spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile material that is comfortable to wear.

1. COTTON
(Gossypiumhirsutum)

2. COTTON- KING OF FIBRE CROPS
• ScientificName- Gossypium hirsutum
• Family- Malvaceae
• Chromosome No- 2n=26
• Also called white gold.

3. COTTON PRODUCTION
• India ranks 1st in area and 2nd in Production.
• Chinaranks 1st in production.
• Leading countries are India ,USA, Russia,
China, Brazil.
• All 4species are grown in India

4. USESOF COTTON
1.All partsof thecottonplantare useful.
2.CottonFibre (Lint) AnnualCrop:
• Over 60 percent intoapparel
• 28 percent into homefurnishings
• 8 percent into industrialproducts.
3.The linters, orshortfuzz onthe seed,are usedinmaking
cushioning,paper,plastics, andotherproducts.
4.Cottonseedareused infeedfor livestock,dairycattle,and
poultry.
5.The stalksandleaves are plowedunderashumus toimprove
soilstructure.

5. IMPORTANT VARIETIES OF COTTON
A. Old world ordesi cotton
1.Gossypium arboreum(2n=26)
2.Gossypium herbaceum(2n=26)
B.New world or American cotton
1.Gossypium hirsutum (2n=52)
2.Gossypium barbadense(2n=52)

6. BRANCHINGINCOTTON
1. Monopodial branches:
• Vegetative branches grows (no flowers)
• Singlefeet
• Have only 1 meristem therefore grows straight and erect.
2. Sympodial branches:
• Fruiting branches grows (has flowers)
• Multiple feet
• Have multiple feet and grows in a
zigzagway.

7. BOTANY
• Cultivatedcottonis herbaceous,attainsaheight of60-200cm,tap
root,stem is erect &branching.
• Therearetwobudsatthe baseofthe eachcottonleafpetiole.
• The fruitis anenlargedovarythatdevelops in to3-5lobed
capsulecalled asboll.
• Uponboll maturity,capsulecrackorsplits & fiberexpandsgreatly
in awhite fluffiness.
• Thecottonfibreis simplyanelongationor outgrowthofan
epidermal cell ofthe seedcoat.
• The long outgrowthis called stapleorlint, while shorter
outgrowth formthefuzz.

8. CLIMATIC REQUIREMENT
• It is a warm season crop.
• Optimum temperature is 21-27’C for vegetative growth, tolerate high temperature
(43’C) but fails if temperaturegoes below 21’C.
• During fruiting, day temperature between 27-32’C and cool nights are needed.At
fruiting period, heavy rains or irrigation may result in shedding of flowers and young
bolls.
• Abundant sunshine is required for maturation. It cannot withstand frost. A frostless
season of 180 - 240 days is required for successful cropproduction.

9. SOIL REQUIREMENT
• It canbe grown on variety of soils exceptsandy,
saline and water logged soils.
• It is grownonsandy loam toclay loam (black cotton
soil).
• It needs fertile soil which is having good water
holding capacity, gooddrainage & aeration and
cannotwith standexcess moisture and water
logging.
• pH- 5.5-8.5.

10. GROWTHSTAGESOF COTTON

11. LAND PREPARATION
• Cotton being a deep rooted crop requires well
prepared seed bed
• The land should be ploughed 15-20 cm withMB
plough or 4-5 times with country or desi plough
• Harrowing and planking are required to make the soil
pulverized and levelled.
• No stubbles of the previous crop should be left in the
field.

12. SEED ANDTREATMENT
• Seed rate: With fuzz- 2.5 kg/ha without fuzz 1.25kg/ha
• Spacing: Hybrid : 90 x 60 cm
SeedTreatment: Before sowing treat the seeds with Conc. H₂SO₄for 6-12 minutes, soak with
emisan @ 5g kg-1 seeds for 2 hr.
• Pathogens present onthe seed fuzzarealso destroyed bytreating with Conc. H₂SO₄
• Thedefuzzed ordelinted seeds areeasy to sow or dibbled. Such seeds germinate rapidly
• Bio-fertilizers: Azospirillum- 500 g/ha and PSB- 500 g/ha
• Sowing: No of seeds: Fuzzyseeds (Hybrids-2, Varieties- 3)

13. SOWINGSEASON
1. Northern Zone
• 1st week of May
• Forthe newvarieties, 3rd- 1st week ofJune
2. Central zone
• 3rdweek of Juneto 1st week of July
• Irrigated may start from March
3. Southern zone
• June in Karnataka
• Jun/ July in red soils ofAP

14. NUTRIENTMANAGEMENT
• Rainfedcroptakeupnutrientdepending onthe
moistureavailability.
• The uptakeofacropis 40:20:80kg N,P2O5,K2O
• FYM: 15-20tonnes/ha,20-25daysbeforesowing.
• All the quantityofP andKdrilled atthe timeof
sowing ½Natthe timeofthinning andother½N at
the appearanceof firstflower,½N given atsowing
when soil is basicallypoor.

15. WATER MANAGEMENT
• Irrigateonce in 8-10daysinredsandyloam andonce in
15-20daysinblack cottonsoils.
• Oneirrigationaftersowing,2irrigationsbeforeflowering,
4 irrigationsafterflowering.
• Stress atfloweringand fruitingresults insheddingof
flowers andsquares.Itwillnottolerate waterloggingat
anystage.
• Early irrigationis importantto haveproperplantgrowth
• Mildstress beforefloweringis advantageous

16. WEEDING AND INTERCULTIVATION
• Keepweedfreeconditionupto60 DAS.
• 3-4intercultivationafter30 DAS followedby handweeding.
• PPIoffluchloralin@ 2kg/haor
• Pre-emergence sprayof Diuran @1 kga.i/haor
Pendimethaline.

17. HARVESTING
• Harvesting usually commences in the month of Nov.
and extends till March depending upon sowing time and
duration.
• Harvesting is done usually by manual labour i.e., hand
picking the seed cotton from the open matured bolls.
• Harvesting is done in 4 -5pickings as and when bolls are
fully matured.
• Precautions must be taken to maintain the quality of
fibre at the time of picking

18. PHYSIOLOGICALDISORDERS
• 1. Bollshedding
• 2. Leaf reddening
• 3. Badopening of boll
• 4. Excessive vegetative growth
• 5. Para wilt

19. Satya Swaroop Sahoo (047)
Abhishek Mohanty (063)
Sai Subramanyam Barik (064)
Koushik Sahoo (068)
Diptesh Patel (077)