The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Crop Biology and Sustainability
Volume 9 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1544696
Impact of different nutrient management strategies on growth, yield components and yield of coloured cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cv. Vaidehi 1
Provisionally accepted
Subramanian Elangovan 1*
SELVAKUMAR SELVARAJ 2
Ragavan Thiruvengadam 2* Gurusamy Arumugam 2* Prabhaharan James 2* Gunasekaran Mahalingam 3* Sivakumar Thangasamy 2* Rani Suramani 2* Arthirani Bangaru 2* Sathishkumar Arumugam 2* Syed Abul Hassan Hussainy 2*- 1 ICAR- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, India
- 2 Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC&RI), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
- 3 Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is a major commercial fibre crop cultivated across various agroclimatic conditions, often referred to as "white gold" and "the king of fibres" which are primarily used in the textile industry to manufacture fabrics. However, conventional white cotton production is associated with several environmental challenges including excessive water consumption, dependency on synthetic chemicals and the use of synthetic dyes, which contribute to soil degradation, water pollution and health hazards for farmers. In contrast, organic coloured cotton presents a sustainable alternative by naturally producing coloured fibres without the need for synthetic dyes. Additionally, it enhances soil fertility, conserves water and minimizes chemical inputs, providing ecological benefits while supporting the well-being of farming communities. The field experiments were carried out at the Central Farm, Agricultural College and Research Institute, TNAU, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, during the Kharif 2023 and Summer 2024 seasons. The present study aimed to evaluate the impacts of various nutrient management practices on the growth characteristics, yield attributes and yield of coloured cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cv. Vaidehi 1. The experiment was designed using a randomized block design with nine treatments based on N-equivalence using different organic manures compared to inorganic fertilizers and replicated three times. The results indicated a significant increase in the growth characters (plant height, number of vegetative branches plant -1 and number of fruiting branches plant -1 ), yield attributes (number of fruiting points plant -1 , number of bolls plant -1 , number of bolls m -2 , boll setting % and boll weight) and yield (Seed cotton yield, lint cotton yield, stalk yield and biological yield) of coloured cotton with the application of 100% NPK applied through site-specific recommendation (T2), which was statistically on par with 100% NPK through blanket recommendation (T1). Organic treatments that including complete organic package (T9), incorporated cover crop with vermicompost (T4) and incorporated cover crop with poultry manure (T5) also showed comparable results to inorganic treatments. No significant variations were recorded in the first fruiting node, length of fruiting branches as well as harvest index and lint percentage across the different nutrient management strategies.
Keywords: coloured cotton1, N-equivalent2, nutrient management3, cover crop4, vermicompost5, growth6, yield7
Received: 13 Dec 2024; Accepted: 22 Jan 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Elangovan, SELVARAJ, Thiruvengadam, Arumugam, James, Mahalingam, Thangasamy, Suramani, Bangaru, Arumugam and Hussainy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Subramanian Elangovan, ICAR- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, India
Ragavan Thiruvengadam, Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC&RI), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Gurusamy Arumugam, Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC&RI), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Prabhaharan James, Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC&RI), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Gunasekaran Mahalingam, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Madurai, 625 104, Tamil Nadu, India
Sivakumar Thangasamy, Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC&RI), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Rani Suramani, Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC&RI), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Arthirani Bangaru, Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC&RI), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Sathishkumar Arumugam, Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC&RI), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Syed Abul Hassan Hussainy, Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC&RI), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.