Effect of sowing time on productivity of Bt and non Bt cotton under climate change

K Sankaranarayanan,K Rajendran,A H Prakash

doi:10.1186/s42269-020-00400-1

Abstract

BackgroundClimate change affects cotton production systems in multiple ways, and the impacts are expected to influence the national economy of India. The weather conditions prevailing during squaring, flowering and boll development stages determine the seed cotton yield. The needs for adaptation connected to optimizing the timing of critical growth stages to minimize stresses and enhance resource utilization. The adjusting of sowing times proved to be an important management technique for improving seed cotton yield.ResultsThe combined results for 3 years revealed that seed cotton yield was not influenced significantly by genotypes and interaction effect. However, the effect of date of sowing was significant. The best date of sowing was on 28 July which recorded the highest significant mean seed cotton yield (24.8 q/ha) compared with other sowing dates.ConclusionsThree years results of experiments show that the best date for sowing is 28 July which is optimum to realize higher productivity and profitability. Sowing window of cotton was re-standardized as from 21 July to 18 August. The existing recommendation of sowing window is 1 August to 31 August.

Highlights

Climate change affects cotton production systems in multiple ways, and the impacts are expected to influence the national economy of India
Growth characters Biometric data collected at harvest revealed that growth characters consist of plant height, number of bolls, number of monopodia and sympodia which were influenced significantly by genotypes and different dates of sowing except plant height and monopodia by dates of sowing (Tables 2 and 3)
The results further revealed that Leaf area index (LAI) were not influenced significantly by genotypes and different dates of sowing

Summary

Introduction

Climate change affects cotton production systems in multiple ways, and the impacts are expected to influence the national economy of India. The weather conditions prevailing during squaring, flowering and boll development stages determine the seed cotton yield. The adjusting of sowing times proved to be an important management technique for improving seed cotton yield. Cotton impacts the lives of an estimated 60 million people in India, including farmers who cultivate the crop, and a legion of workers involved in the cotton industry from processing to trading. The impact of climate change on cotton crop is gaining momentum because of its association with the national economy and providing livelihood security to 60 million people including all stakeholders of the cotton value chain (Sankaranarayanan et al 2010).

Methods

Results

Conclusion