MM1.3: Identification of G.hirsutum genotypes suitable for machine picking and development of agronomic package

Prevalent age old practice of picking cotton manually has been labor intensive. Current problems relating to rising labor costs and often lack of timely labor availability are posing a serious challenge to cotton cultivation, thus deteriorating the fibre quality and making cotton cultivation less remunerative. Unless the situation is improved, cotton growers may have to think in terms of alternate remunerative crops to cotton. In cotton growing countries like USA , Brazil etc. machine picking have been widely adopted for clean cotton production which in turn offers higher price in world market. Machine picking is therefore necessary to obtain quality cotton for which genotypes with suitable traits like dwarf and compact plant type genotypes with suitable traits like dwarf and compact plant type suited for agronomic manipulations, short sympodia (mostly zero type), and short inter-node in main stem, big boll size and early uniform maturity need to be evolved. Promising lines with required characters are already available from introgression which can be successfully used in development of genotypes with desirable degree of resistance to biotic stresses and amenable to machine harvesting.

OBJECTIVES

• Identification of G. hirsutum genotypes suitable for machine picking.
• Development of compact plant type with synchronous flowering in G.hirsutum
• Introgression of useful genes from wild species for development of plant type suitable for machine picking.
• Development of agronomic practices for cultivation of genotypes suitable for machine picking.
• Promotion of superior genotypes suitable for machine picking.

Name of the Lead Center: PAU, Faridkot

Co-operating Centers: HAU, Hisar, RAU, Sriganganagar, MAU, Nanded, PDKV, Akola, NAU, Surat, CICR, Nagpur, ANGRAU, Lam, UAS, Siruguppa, TNAU, Coimbatore, OAUT, Bhavanipatna, IARI, New Delhi, JAU, Junagarh, CICR RS, Sirsa, JNKW, Khandwa