Soil :
Cotton is grown in sandy loam and loam soils in Haryana, clay loam soils in Punjab and sandy loam soils
in Rajasthan where alkalinity and water logging conditions do not prevall, Coastal alluvial soil of Gujarat, black
cotton soil of Nimad, Malva, Satpuda, Jhabua tracts of M.P. and block cotton soils in Andhra Pradesh, TamilNadu & Karnataka is best suited for cotton production.

Sowing Time:
Optimum time of sowing in three cotton growing zones are as follows:

1.North Zone:
Irrigated : 1st week of Aprill to last week of June.

2. Central Zone:
Irrigated:
(a) 15 May 31st May Vidarbha, Marathwada and Khandesh tracts of Maharashtra & M.P.
(b) Second for night of March in deccan canal tracts of Marashtra.

Unirrigated:
(a)25th June to 10th July in Vidarbha, Khandesh tracts of Maharashtra & Adlibada tracts of Andhra Pradesh.
(b) 1st to 15th June for south Gujrat with the onset of monson, 16th to 30th June in Marathwada region of
Maharashtra with the onset of monson.

3.South Zone:
Irrigated:
(a) 15th Aprill to 15th May in Ghataprabha area & 15th July to 15th August in Tungabhadra conal area of
Karnataka
(b) August in winter-irrigated tract of Tamil Nadu.
(c) January, February for rice fallows in Andhra Pradesh & Tamil Nadu and sumer irrigated tracts in Tamil Nadu

Unirrigated: With the onset of monsoon
(a) Mid to end of June in Karnataka
(b) 15 July to 15 August oin Guntur, Prakasm and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh
(c) August-September in drier central district of Andhra Pradhesh
(d) Mid Sep to first week of Oct. in black soils area of Tamil Nadu.

Seed Rate:
All cotton variety seeds of company are acid delinted or mechanical delinted . Following seed rate is advisable:
Open pollinated : 2.5-4.0 kg/acre
Hybrid varieties : 1000-1200gms/acre

If the seed is not delintied mechanically of by acid, it should be rubbed with dung before sowing as to have
even seed distribution.

Method of sowing : Broadcast sowing is not advisable but if there is no alternative 25% seed rate should
be increased. Sowing should be preferred with seed cum fertilizers drill. Seed rate for late sowing should be
increased 25%. Before sowing treat the seed with 10 ml chloropyriphos to protect germinating seedlling from
termites. Ridge sowing of seeds is helpful to save irrigation. Square sowing adopted in south is good method.
East west directions sowing responds better as compared to north south directions sowing. One of the following distance may be adopted according to local conditions:

Note : Above recommendations are north zone. However local Agri. Depptt. or Agri. Universities may be
consulted for appropridate doses of fertilizer.

Method of fertilizer application:
Total quantity of single super phosphate, potash & zinc and 50% quantity of nitrogen should be applied at the
time of sowing. In case SSP could not be applied at the time of sowing it may be drilled at square formation.
Balance 50% urea should be applied at flowering . It is important to mention here that requirment ofnitrogen & phosphorus is just double for hybrid varieties and required quantity of fertilizer be applied to get the
potentiality of the hybrids. It is advisable here that fertilizer should be applied in hybrids in 3 spells i.e. 1-3 at
square formation & 1-3 at flowering . Soils in haryana , Punjab & Rajasthan are adequate in potash . However,
some parts are being identified as K deficient, in those soils patassium should be applied on the base of soil test & crop response reports. Follar application of 2% DAP along with 400 gms Boron supplement (solubur)at the time of flowering increase the flowring. Soils in Gujrat are rich in phosphatic fertilizers while 80 kgs, phosphorus is required in Adilabad tract of Andhra Pradesh, 2% follar spray of magnicium suulphate at the tme of square formation in Karnataka increases number of bolls. Phosphotika should be applied at the time of sowing to convert insolube phosphorus in to soluble form.

Irrigation:
Cotton in North is sown in kharif and cenrtral zone in rainy season and amount of irrigation is adjusted
according to rainfall. First irrigation may e delayed as far as possible but without affecting crop growth Generally 3-4 irrigations are required for cotton. The crop should be irrigated every 25-30 days according to rain. The crop should not suffer due to irrigations at critical stages of square formation, flowering & boll formation. In geral first irrigation in cotton is given after 35-45 days of sowing 2nd after 60-65 days and 3rd one at 1-3 boll formation. Drip irrigation is preferred in central & south zones as it not only save water requirement but weeds growth is also checket.

Thinning:
Thinning is an important operation in cotton cultivation. After 3-4 week of sowing proper plant to plant
distances should is helpful to reduce the gravity of pest incidences to maintain desired plant population.

Detopping : Removal of appical bud in cotton is called topping. Topping of plants at 60-70 days after sowing if needed chech the unwanted growth of plants and nutrients are diverted to the fruiting parts which ultimately increases boll setting.

Plant Protection : Pest :
In the early stage the cotton crop is affected by Aphids, Jassid, Thrips & Whitefly which
reduces the growth by suching the plant sop. Gelatinous excreta of aphids also check the photosynthesis in
plants and some time more than 25% losses occut.

Besides this cotton crop is also affected by Pink boll worm, Spotted boll worm & Heliothis. and causes heavy
losses. Any of the following set of spray may be adopted to check the incidences of pests.

Note :
In case of severe attack of Hellothis & whitefly do not use/ synthetic pyrethroids.

Malformation :
Malformation takes place in some of the plots of cotton due to residual afffect of 2,4-D herbicides
which can be controlled by spraying 2.5 % urea and 0.5% Zinc sulphate after removing the affected part
of the plant

Diseases :
Most of the cotton fields are affected by wilt and rottening of bolls.

Root-Rot or wilt :
Carbendazim (Bavisti) 500 g/ acre soll application with irrigation.

Other diseases:
Copperoxychloride 500 gms and streptochycline 6 gms. with 150-20 ltr. water Two spray will be enough.

Picking :
The picking of cotton starts in october in north zone and completes in 2-3 times. The irrigation should be
stopped when 1-3 bols are open. DROPP @ 60gms can be utillized to encourage the boll opening or 40-45%
boll opening increases by spraying of DROPP.

Note :
Above package of proctices can be modifield in consutation with the specialist of Agri. Unversities of Deptt.
of Agri. & as per local conditions.