Effect of early ethrel application in enhancing cotton production in vertisols of Andhra Pradesh, India

A field study was taken up for two years to know the effect of early application of ethrel on growth, yield and quality of cotton during kharif 2008 and 2009 invertisols revealed that the application of ethrel @ 30ppm at 35–45 days after sowing (atthetime of square initiation) gave maximum seed cotton yield in all the test entries studied. The physiological manipulation of morphoframes through different means not only changed the morphology of the cotton plant, but also the growth pattern, accumulation of dry matter production, harvest index and ultimately the seed cotton yield of the plant. It is very much interesting to note that there was no significant influence on quality characteristics of cotton fibre through this application.