National textile university, Faisalabad

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Cultivation and Harvesting of Cotton

PlantBy

M. Taha Bin Yaseen

Saleem Jafar

Muhammad Rahman Sajid

Usama Gill

Cultivation and Harvesting of Cotton Plant

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

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.”

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Cotton in Pakistan:• Pakistan is the fourth largest producer of cotton in the world

with average production of 1,610 TMT (Thousand Metric Ton).• Pakistan is also the fourth largest consumer of cotton, with

average consumption of 1,573 TMT.• An average Pakistan imports 92 TMT and exports 98 TMT.• 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.

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.

Seed and sowing conditions• Seed selected for sowing should be free from diseases, pests,

cuts ordamages etc.

• In southern parts of the country cotton sowing is started from April 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

Life cycle of cotton plant.

seed

seedling

Small plant

plant

Flower

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. ThisWill take 2-4 weeks.• 4.square: Flower buds called squares will appear on plant within 5-7 weeks.

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.

Growth Stages

Growth Stages DaysPlanting to emergence 4 – 9Emergence to first square

27 – 28

Square to flower 20 – 25Planting to first flower 60 – 70Flower to boll open 45 – 65Planting to 1st picking ready

125 – 135

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.

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Note: The dose of Nitrogen and phosphorus can be increased or decreased keeping in view the fertility of soil.

Insect Pests and Diseases:• Boll wormsA 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.

• DiseasesCotton Leaf Curl Virus

Boll Rot Diseases

Root Rot

Boll wormsPink Bollworm Spotted Bollworms

Cotton Leaf Curl Virus Boll Rot Disease Root Rot

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 thecotton crop from root rot.

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.

Questions

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Thank you!