Control of bud and boll shedding in cotton
COTTON IS commercially grown as a kharif crop during the month of August-September. Flowering commences from October to November and continues until harvest.
Bud and boll shedding in cotton is a continuous process and the intensity of shedding depends on various environmental factors.
Ultimately, only a third of the flowers that are produced are retained by the plant as bolls during harvest.
Experiments have revealed that the main cause of bud and boll shedding in cotton is due to aberrant weather condition that prevails during the cropping period.
Flowering season
The peak flowering stage of cotton generally coincides with the Northeast monsoon. During the time the crop suffers from insufficient light and intermittent rainfall which affects productivity.
Besides, key hormones like auxin are depleted inducing a hormonal imbalance in the plant.
Under such circumstances, ethylene is released, thereby triggering the formation of abscission layer leading to shedding of buds and bolls.
Foliar spray
This hormo-nutritional deficiency can be corrected to a large extent by foliar spray of naphthalene acetic acid at the rate of 10 ppm and 1 per cent diammonium phosphate at regular intervals of 10 days from 60th day after sowing.
Spraying should be done preferably during evenings for better results.
S.E.S.A. Kader
Central Institute for
Cotton Research
Coimbatore
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Sci Tech
