LAHORE, Feb 23 (APP): The conducive sowing period for early cotton, keeping temperature considerations in view, is till March 31.
A spokesman for the department said here on Monday that Punjab Agriculture department has fixed a target of 0.7 million acres for early cotton cultivation in the province. He said, “Districts of Multan, Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Sargodha and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions are most suitable for early cotton cultivation.”
The department strictly recommended sowing only triple gene cotton varieties for early cultivation, he added.
Spokesman further stated that the seeds used for early cotton sowing must be certified by the Federal Seed Certification & Registration Department and should be of a pure Triple Gene variety. Otherwise, applying glyphosate spray will result in the death of non-Triple Gene cotton plants, he added.
He further said that for optimal growth, the recommended row spacing for early cotton sowing is 2.5 feet between rows and 1.5 to 2 feet between plants.
He said farmers have been advised to use high-quality, disease-free, and certified seeds of the recommended varieties.
For drill sowing of early cotton, farmers should use 2 to 3 kg of seed per acre. They should also arrange additional 10% seed to compensate for any gaps in the field, he said and added that if the germination rate is 60%, farmers should use 5 to 6 kg of seed per acre, whereas for a germination rate of 75% or higher, 4 to 5 kg of seed per acre should be used. He said, “Average, early cotton cultivation yield is up to 50 to 60 maunds per acre.”