Evaluation of economical cotton yield in various plant geometry and cultivars under rainfed in Alfisols of Telangana

Abstract

The adoption of a High-Density Planting System (HDPS), when combined with efficient fertilizer management and the use of improved genotypes, offers a promising solution to overcome the yield stagnation currently observed in rainfed Gossypium hirsutum cotton areas of India. A field experiment entitled “Study on the light interception and photosynthesis in cotton canopy in HDPS field micro climatic situation” was carried out during kharif, 2024 on sandy loam soil at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Warangal to examine the effects of various plant geometries and cultivars on yield and economics within high density planting system. The study used the factorial concept with three replications. Nine treatment combinations were taken with three levels of plant geometries (P1: 90 x 10 cm; 1,11,111plants ha-1, P2: 90 x 15 cm; 74,074 plants ha-1, P3: 90 x 60 cm;18,518 plants ha-1) and three cultivars (C1: JKCH-8836 BG.II., C2: RCH-929 BG.II. C3: NCS-2778 BG.II.) in factor II. The results revealed that the highest seed cotton yield (1817 kg ha-1) obtained with the spacing 90 x 10 cm (1,11,111plants ha-1) whereas highest number of picked bolls per plant were recorded in the plant geometry 90 x 60 cm (18,518 plants ha-1). Among the different cultivars, JKCH-8836 BG.II recorded highest no. of bolls m-2 and seed cotton yield (1857 kg ha-1).