Sowing time plays a very important role in cotton cultivation. Plant cotton as early as possible. That is, by doing it in the last fortnight of May, before the monsoon rains, the growth of the crop will improve after the rains, and the development of healthy plants will increase the amount of wasp and boll weevils in the crop, so that a good production of cotton can be obtained.
In rain-fed agriculture, sowing in late June or early July, as soon as the rains suitable for sowing in the monsoons, gives good growth of cotton.
Advance planting of cotton:
Where there is facility of irrigation, by planting cotton with irrigation from the end of May to June, after picking the cotton, another crop can be taken in the winter season. The cost of production is reduced as the incidence of diseases and pests in the cotton crop is also low. Also, cotton crops are affected by frost, early planting of cotton in cold areas can save the crop from frost damage in winter.
Seed Rate and Sowing Spacing:
Planting spacing (between two plants and two rows) plays a very important role in cotton production, so it is very important to maintain the recommended seed rate per hectare. Seed rate and sowing distance depends on the following factors.
Soil type, soil fertility. Depends on environmental conditions and growth of selected variety etc. If the vegetative growth of the selected variety is high, the sowing distance should be kept more than that of the low growing varieties, so that the plants get enough sunlight and the competition for the plants to get enough sunlight can be controlled, the height of the plant can be regulated and the cost of production can be reduced by remaining suitable for agricultural work. will happen As a result of the research, sowing of Bt cotton at 120 x 45 cm spacing can get higher production.
Seed Treatment:
For better growth of cotton seeds and to protect the plants from Chusia type of insects after the beginning of sowing, before sowing cotton seeds should be spread with imidacloprid 10 gm or carbosulfan 10 gm or acetamiprid 20 gm or thymethoxam 2.8 gm per kg seed before sowing. , so that there is less infestation of Eucia type pests in the cotton crop for the first 45 days. Apart from this, in order to save chemical fertilizers in the cotton crop, planting of Azotobacter and Phosphate culture by layering the seeds reduces the cost of farming and the problem of pollution can be reduced to a great extent and the impact on the environment can be reduced.
Method of Sowing:
Since the seed cost of hybrid cotton and Temay Bt cotton varieties is very high, seeding at proper spacing reduces the seed requirement and seeding improves seed germination. Sowing cotton seeds at a depth of 4-6 cm keeping in view the availability of soil moisture improves growth and Keeping the number of plants sufficient by keeping the amount of weeds low will result in better overall production.