Agricultural Reviews

Cotton, the “King of fibres” is often quoted as ‘White gold’ because of its higher commercial value. Our country ranks first in cotton acreage but the productivity is less. One of the major constraints in cotton is nutrient management. Cotton is a deep-rooted crop and voracious feeder of nutrients, responds weIl for nutrients. When the nutrients are supplied at sub optimal level, the diversion of nutrients to the reproductive sympodial branches gets disrupted leading to boll shedding and poor yield. On the other hand, excess application of fertilizer has its own limitation in promoting vegetative growth. The optimal dose of nutrients builds up a favourable condition in increasing cotton productivity. Response of nutrients in cotton varies among varieties and region and therefore, the recommendation of nutrients are to be made with region specific doses for increasing the productivity.