Feb , 2022, Volume : 3 Article : 3
High Density Planting System in Cotton
Author : Anand Harshana
ABSTRACT
This article gives a brief account of the high density planting system (HDPS) technology in cotton farming and its scope in India. HDPS technology increases the number of bolls per unit area to achieve a high yield, reduces the risk of terminal drought and failure due to pests, gives seed sovereignty to farmers, and is specifically suited for rainfed areas with shallow and medium-deep soils. HDPS Cotton varieties like CO 15 and CO 17 registered higher seed cotton yield, ranging from 5.3% to 111.2%, compared to local check Suraj (normal spacing). HDPS technology has the potential to end the existing trend of stagnant yields of cotton in India.
Keywords: Gossypium sp., plant density, productivity, rainfed areas
Cotton is an important commercial fiber crop of India with a significant role in Indian agriculture and industrial development. It is known as the ‘King of fiber crops’ and ‘White Gold’ because of its high economic value. It is paramount for the livelihood of millions of farmers, traders, millers, and the textile industry worldwide. It provides employment opportunities to about 70 million people directly and contributes nearly 70 percent of the total raw material to the textile industry in India. It is the backbone of the flourishing textile industry in India. India is one of the largest producer and consumer of cotton in the world with about 25% and 22% share, respectively, and about 41% of the cotton cultivation area is in India. Although the productivity of cotton in India (462 kg/ha) is far behind the world average (759 kg/ha) (CCI, 2022). Cotton productivity in India is low due to many factors such as the large portion of the cotton area of the country being rainfed, terminal drought and nutrient stress in long-duration cotton cultivars, insect pests and disease ravage, delayed hybrid sowing, and so on.
High density planting system (HDPS) is gaining popularity in India to increase cotton yield, particularly in rainfed areas with poor productive soils. In HDPS technology short-duration, semi-compact cotton types are planted at populations ranging from 1.1 lakh to 2.45 lakh plants per hectare, with a distance of 45-90 cm between rows and 10 cm between plants in a row, depending on soil type and growing circumstances (Venugopalan, 2019). This technology targets establishing 7-8 plants per meter of row length. The goal is to keep the number of bolls per plant to 6-8 and maximize the number of bolls per unit area to achieve a high yield in a comparatively short period. When there are few bolls per plant, the fruiting window (or blooming period) is brief (4-5 weeks) and the plant matures early and yields high-quality fibers (Venugopalan, 2019). HDPS technology results in rapid canopy closure and reduced soil water evaporation, as well as early maturity in soils that do not support excessive vegetative growth (Jost & Cothern, 2001). This system is ideal for shallow to medium soils under rainfed conditions, where conventional late maturity hybrids experience terminal drought (Jost & Cothern, 2001). Narrow row plantings have become popular in several nations as a result of increased cotton output (Ali et al., 2010).
ICAR-Central Institute of Cotton Research, Nagpur has demonstrated this technology in farmer’s fields in the eight cotton growing districts of the Vidarbha region with marginal soils in rainfed conditions during the Kharif 2012. They planted varieties like Suraj, NH615, and PKV081 at 45x10 cm or 60x10 cm spacing. Despite delayed sowing and irregular rainfall during the vegetative phase, numerous farmers were able to attain high yields of 25 to 30 q/ha of seed-cotton and average the yield was 15 to 18 q/ha, which was double the average of the Vidarbha region and more than the national average (Venugopalan et al., 2014).
Harshana et al., 2017 carried out an experiment to validate the existing IPM module of cotton under HDPS using ARBC-64 (compact non-Bt variety) and Bindaas BG II (commercial Bt hybrid) at Dharwad, Karnataka. They sowed both genotypes under HDPS (45 × 15 cm) and regular spacing (90 × 60 cm). They found HDPS blocks registered higher seed cotton yields of 26.12 and 23.95 q/ha as compared to 20.35 and 21.20 q/ha under normal spaced crop with a net profit of Rs. 90,485/- and Rs. 67,508/- per hectare under HDPS as compared to 68,215/- and 66,976/- rupees per hectare, respectively with existing IPM module. Seed treatment with imidacloprid 600 FS, okra as a trap crop, pheromone trap installation, and need-based spraying of specific insecticides was all part of the IPM module. The results also demonstrated that there was no significant difference in pest population between HDPS and conventional spacing crops, regardless of genotype under IPM.
Cotton varieties like CSH 3075, CO 15, CO 17, etc. are specifically developed for the cultivation of cotton under HDPS in India. CO 15 and CO 17 varieties are released by the Department of Cotton, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, and these varieties have shown considerable improvement in the yield over the check variety Suraj (National check entry identified for HDPS) (Kumar et al., 2020).
Benefits of HDPS technology in cotton
· Higher productivity per hectare compared to regular spacing.
· Escape from terminal drought and some cotton pests, so well suited for rainfed areas.
· Early crop maturity with about synchronous bursting.
· Suitable for mechanical harvesting.
· Seed sovereignty with farmers.
· High water and nutrient use efficiency.
· Lower incidence of leaf reddening and para-wilt.
Conclusion
After the introduction of Bt technology, Indian cotton productivity increased for many years before plateauing in recent years. HDPS is being firmly considered as the next technology that has the potential to strengthen India`s cotton economy. This technology is well proven in many countries for increasing productivity and reducing the risk to cotton farming. It has been reported that mechanical picking using a single row picker under HDPS increased yield by 25–40% when compared to the conventional technique. This technology will be highly suitable for rainfed areas with low productive soils in India. The use of HDPS in combination with appropriate agronomic techniques, plant protection management, and improved genotypes is a promising strategy for breaking the existing trend of stagnant yields in mostly rainfed cotton-growing areas.
References:
Ali, A., Ali, L., Sattar, M. & Ali, M. A. (2010). Response of seed cotton yield to various plant populations and planting methods. J. Agric. Res., 48(2), 163-169.
CCI. (2022). https://cotcorp.org.in/national_cotton.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 Accessed on 28/01/2022.
Harshana, A., Patil, S. B. & Udikeri, S. S. (2017). Validation of existing IPM module of cotton under high density planting system. J. Entomol. Zool. Stud., 5(5), 687-690.
Jost, P. H. & Cothren, J. T. (2001). Phenotypic alterations and crop maturity differences in ultra-narrow row and conventionally spaced cotton. Crop Science, 41(4), 1150-1159.
Kumar, M., Premalatha, N., Mahalingam, L., Sakthivel, N., Senguttuvan, K. & Latha, P. (2020). High Density Planting System of Cotton in India: Status and Breeding Strategies. In (Ed.), Plant Breeding - Current and Future Views. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94905
Venugopalan, M. V. (2019). High Density Planting System in Cotton - An Agro-Technique to Reverse Yield Plateau. Cotton Statistics & News, No. 3, Published 16th April 2019.
Venugopalan, M. V., Kranthi, K.R., Blaise, D., Lakde, S. & Sankaranarayana, K. (2014). High density planting system in cotton -The Brazil Experience and Indian Initiatives. Cotton Res. J., 5(2), 172-185.
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