MULTAN: Agriculture experts have advised growers to complete sowing of early Bt cotton varieties within the ongoing month of April to meet cotton production target of 10.5 million bales from an estimated six million acre in Punjab in the year 2014-15.
In a press release issued by media liaison unit of Punjab agriculture department, experts said growers should ensure per acre plant population at 175,00 to 23000 for sowing in April and adopt modern agronomic practices to achieve target.
Plant to plant distance should be maintained at 9 to 12 inches while bed to bed distance should be 2.5 feet.The trend of Bt cotton sowing was on the rise in Punjab province that contributes 80 per cent of the national cotton production.
Experts, however, suggested that growers should also sow non-Bt varieties in addition to Bt varieties so that enemy pests do not develop resistance against Bt varieties. Non-Bt varieties cover 10-20 per cent of total cotton sown area. Bt cotton varieties have comparatively lower germination strength and growers should increase per acre seed quantity in case of lesser germination strength.
The Bt seed having 75 per cent or above germination strength should be sown at the rate of six kilogram per acre, eight kilogram per acre seed be sown in case of 60 pc germination strength, 10 kg per acre in case of 50 per cent strength.
Experts said farmers should sow registered Bt varieties in Punjab including MNH-886, VH-259, BH-178, CIM-599, CIM-602, FH-118, FH-142, IR Niab-824, IUB-222, Ali Akbar-703, Neelam-121, Tarzan-1, Saibaan-201, Sitara-11M, A-555, KZ-181, Tarzan-2,IR-3701, MG-6, Sitara-008, Ali Akbar-802, IR-1524, and GN hybrid-2085.
Fur should be removed from the seed before sowing. Experts urged farmers to use only registered varieties to get desired results stating that last year only 13 per cent registered seed was sown and the rest were unregistered varieties.
The ratio of utilization of registered varieties was much higher in other countries ie 99 per cent in America, 95 per cent in China, and 83 per cent in India. Bt varieties do not possess resistance against the sucking pests, experts said and advised growers to sow Bt varierties after treating it with recommended pesticides to keep the crop safe against sucking pests for at least a month after sowing.
Growers should ensure balanced application of fertilizers including Phosphorous, Potash and Nitrogen at the time of sowing to get good production. Bt crop need enhanced application of water and fertilizers and growers are advised to ensure availbility of these implements to get good results.
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