Optimizing Seed Cotton Yield: Exploring the Synergistic Effects of De-topping Stage and Plant Spacing
Optimizing Seed Cotton Yield: Exploring the Synergistic Effects of De-topping Stage and Plant Spacing
Muhammad Iqbal1*, Saba Iqbal1, Arbab Jahangeer1, Muhammad Arshad1, Naveed Akhtar2, Ansar Hussain3, Mussarrat Hussain4, Muhammad Shahid5 and Qaisar Abbas4
ABSTRACT
Cotton being an important cash crop of Pakistan contributing substantially to foreign exchange earnings and playing a crucial part in the industry, agricultural sector and overall economic development. Achieving a high cotton yield is closely linked to optimal plant population. However, many farmers adhere to traditional plant spacing practices, which often result in lower yields. Thus, standardizing plant spacing based on the crop’s requirements is essential for maximizing yield. Moreover, excessive vegetative development has been observed a major factor limiting yield improvement in cotton cultivation. Excessive vegetative growth often occurs at the expense of reproductive growth. Hence de-topping, removal of apical shoot, inhibits excessive vegetative growth and redirects the resources for the improvement of lateral/reproductive growth which results in improvement in seed cotton yield. However, for lateral growth enhancement, plant needs wider plant spacing. Therefore, two years (2019 and 2020) field experiments were planned and executed to optimize plant spacing as well as time of de-topping to maximize cotton yield. Two factors were studied: plant spacing (30, 23 and 15 cm) and de-topping (performed at 90, 105, and 120 days after sowing (DAS)). Significant interactions were found between these factors for plant population, height, sympodial branches per plant, bolls per plant, boll weight, and seed cotton yield. Cotton sown at 15 cm spacing had the highest plant population and plant height, while 30 cm spacing resulted in the higher sympodial branches, bolls, and highest boll weight. De-topping at 90 DAS significantly improved the number of branches, bolls and yield, whereas 75 DAS had the lowest values. Higher seed cotton yield was observed with 30 cm spacing and de-topping at 90 DAS. Hence for optimal cotton yield and growth, the recommended treatment is sowing at 30 cm plant spacing with de-topping at 90 DAS that provides the best balance of plant population, height, number of sympodial branches, boll number, and seed cotton yield.
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