Agro-Climatic Indices, Plant Growth and Yield of Bt Cotton as Influenced by Planting Time and Spacing

A field experiment was conducted in kharif season 2020 to study the effect of sowing time and row spacing on growth, yield and agro-climatic indices of Cotton at Research Farm, Department of Agricultural Meteorology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The experiment was performed in split-plot design and replicated thrice. The experiment included nine treatment combinations with three sowing dates and row spacings. Among different sowing times, cotton sown on 19th April had significantly higher plant height (176.3 cm), dry matter accumulation (453.39 g plant-1), LAI (1.92), GDD (Growing Degree Days), HTU (Heliothermal Units), PTU (Photothermal Units) and seed cotton yield (3057 kg ha-1) in comparison to sowing in May i.e. May 8th and May 28th. Among various row spacings, cotton planted with a row spacing of 67.5 cm x 60 cm produced significantly higher seed cotton (2657 kg ha-1) and plant height (156.40 cm), although growth parameters i.e. LAI (2.26) and dry matter accumulation (397.92 g plant-1) alongwith Agro-climatic indices (GDD, HTU, PTU) were observed to be greater with a row spacing of 100 x 60 cm.