1Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab, India
2Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab, India
*Corresponding author: amanbrar@pau.edu (ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9888-8869)
Online published on 7 October, 2020.
A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of environments (timely sown and late sown) on crop phenology development, yield and fibre development of Bt and non-Bt cotton hybrids viz., G cothy 8 BG II (Bt), G cot hy12 (non-Bt), NCS 145 BG II (Bt), DHH 263 (non-Bt), Ankur 3028 BG II (Bt) and LHH 144 (non-Bt) commonly grown in different ecological zones of the country. Results revealed that timely sown crop produced significantly higher seed cotton yield (14.80 q/ha) than the late sown crop (8.00 q/ha) due to petite crop canopy, lesser number of sympods, bolls and lower boll weight per plant. The maximum seed cotton yield was recorded with Ankur 3028 BG II (14.72 q/ha) which was significantly superior to all other Bt as well as non-Bt cotton hybrids. Further, LHH 144 (12.94 q/ha) and G cot hy 8 BG II (12.88 q/ha) recorded significant edge over rest of the hybrids. Among the rest of the hybrids, G cot hy 12 (10.81 q/ha), DHH 263 (9.09 q/ha) and NCS 145 BG II (7.99 q/ha) followed significantly diminishing order in seed cotton yield. The higher yield in Ankur 3028 BG II, LHH 144 and G cot hy 8 BG II was mainly attributed to higher sympods, boll number and boll weight per plant. The fibre length was also significantly more in timely sown crop as compared to late sown crop. Among the hybrids, Ankur 3028 BG II registered significantly more fibre length than rest of the hybrids.
Highlights
Harvest potential of cotton can only be apprehended by timely sowing of the crop.
Amidst the hybrids, predilection must be given to Ankur 3028 BG II trailed by LHH 144 and G cot hy 8 BG II.
Cotton hybrids, Environment, Fibre length, GDD, Gossypium hirsutum, Growth, Productivity
