Effect of Organic Manure and Foliar Application of Boron on Morphological and Economic Parameters of Sindh-1 and CKC-3 Cultivars of Cotton Under Semi-arid Climate

Abstract

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) has a central position in agriculture, similarly it adds to Pakistan’s economy as trade profit. Most of the cotton growing areas of Pakistan are deficient in organic matter due to continuous mono-cropping. Concerning these issues, a one-year field research was conducted during Kharif season in 2021 to evaluate the effect of organic manure and foliar application of boron on morphological and economic characters of CKC-3 and Sindh-1 cultivars under semi-arid climate. Treatments included soil applied farmyard manure (FYM) and foliar application of boron (B): T1 = Control (0 FYM + 0 B), T2 = FYM @10 tons/ha1, T3 = 1% B, T4 = 2% B, T5 = FYM @10 tons/ha1 + 1% B, T6 = FYM@10 tons/ha1 + 2% B. Our results suggested that the treatment of soil applied FYM and foliar applied B @ FYM 10 tons/ha1 + 2% B significantly (P≤0.05) influence the morphological characters including, sympodial branches per plant, opened bolls per plant, seed cotton weight per plant (g), seed cotton yield (kg ha-1), lint yield per plant (g), and GOT (%) of both Sindh-1 and CKC-3 cultivars of cotton. However, CKC-3 performed better than Sindh-1 cultivar in most of the growth and yield related parameters under different treatment regimes. Hence, the optimum FYM and B foliar application levels for economical cotton production was considered to be FYM @10 tons/ha1 + 2% boron along with recommended dose of NPK fertilizers under semi-arid climate.