Cotton Crop Nutrition

Cotton Crop Nutrition 1
Cotton Crop Nutrition
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Cotton Crop Nutrition 2
Cotton has turned into one of the world’s most wanted crops. It is the primary source of natural
textile fiber in the world. Around the world, plenty of cotton is cultivated. There are nearly 50
different countries with cotton crops. The crop grows well in tropical and temperate regions.
When it comes to quality, there are two major types of cotton species. This includes G
barbadense and G hirsutum. Cotton cultivation strongly depends on the use of Nitrogen (N)
fertilization. Regions with plenty of nitrogen can contribute exhaustively to the production of
cotton. The yield and growth of cotton crops depends strongly on the amount of nitrogen in soil.
This is why nitrogen-based fertilizers are applied in and around cotton cultivation sites. The
amount of nitrogen used differs from one to another. And, several techniques are used while
spreading nitrogen in soil. All these methods are capable of handling the fertilizer’s high cost and
rapid rate of consumption. The consumption of nitrogen fertilizers has increased from 2 to 13
percent in the past few years. To be more precise, 19.3 million tones of fertilizer is used by
cotton crops worldwide. What makes nitrogen special is that the application of these fertilizers
doesn’t cause any issues due to excessive or deficient usage.
However, studies reveal that problems economical and environmental concerns should be taken
care off! Also, cultivators should be careful with the amount of nitrogen used. Traditionally,
farmers spread nitrogen fertilizers in three different stages: pre-planting, the first bloom and peak
bloom. Nitrogen volumes that can increase yield depend on the region, cultivators and soil
variety. There are plenty of studies to reduce the use of nitrogen fertilizers and yet not
compromise on yield. These studies focus on nitrogen allocation, the use of enzymes and
metabolic pathways that can change soil and improve crop yield.

Cotton Crop Nutrition 3
Using Nitrogen for Higher Cotton Yield
The use of nitrogen has direct impacts on cotton yield. There are well known inhibitory effects.
Though the use of nitrogen did not have an effect on average root length density, there was
significant difference in the total root surface area and length. As the amount of nitrogen
increased, the overall root surface area increased! This increased the total number of soil layers.
More nitrogen creates a mutually beneficial environment for plants. The element can trigger
vigorous leaf functionalities. As a result, more photo products are generated to encourage better
root absorption.
Nitrogen is extremely important for photosynthesis and canopy area growth. With the right
amount of nitrogen, plant growth will become rapid and better! There will a greater number of
healthy leaves to encourage photosynthetic capacity. This in return would improve the crops’
reproductive powers. Meanwhile, low percentage of nitrogen can stop or slow-down leaf
development. Crops that are nitrogen deficient will have fewer leaves. This means, plant growth,
amount of photosynthesis and the formation of sugars for maturation decreases. Good nitrogen
levels can encourage vegetative growth; whereas low amounts of nitrogen can destroy crops,
difficulty in cultivation and late maturity.
The use of nitrogen fertilizers has a direct impact on the rate of plant growth, fiber quality and
lint yields. As mentioned previously, high percentage of nitrogen is required to maximize yield.
Unfortunately, this can increase the chances of nitrogen leaching and production costs.
Cultivators are expected to handle the amount of nitrogen in soil carefully. They should make
sure the right amount of nitrogen is used at the right time! For high yields, the application of
nitrogen has to be broken into several splits. First, 30% of fertilization has to be done during the
pre-plant phase. Next, 40% of fertilization should be done for the first bloom and the rest must

Cotton Crop Nutrition 4
be applied during the peak bloom stage. Some studies (Yang et al) states that the split ratio
should be 0%, 40% and 60% for peak harvest.
However, cultivators should be aware of the fact that the amount of nitrogen applied is bound to
increase. This can increase costs rapidly. The estimated efficient of regions with nitrogen ranges
between 30 and 70 percent. So, everything else can be deeded as a loss. To take care of energy
efficiency and improve crop production, the amount of nitrogen used during cultivation should
be optimized! “Nitrogen use efficiency” is quite difficult to determine. Two major components
control nitrogen efficiency: the rate of absorption and the amount of nitrogen used to produce
better crops. Siddiqui et al, Gerloff et al defined nitrogen utilization efficiency as a ratio between
nitrogen concentration and total plant dry mass. Few other nitrogen utilization efficiency
formulas are defined by researchers too. Nitrogen Utilization Efficiency is necessary in
predicting the amount of fertilizer to be used. It is important to predict NUE for any kind of
agricultural system. Cultivators should maintain nitrogen utilization efficiency to balance inputs
and outputs without experienced any losses at environmental or economic level. Cotton crops are
likely to differ with respect to Nitrogen Utilization efficiency. It usually depends on
environmental and agronomic conditions, along with genetic traits. Cotton cropping systems
should improve the ratio between input and output by ensuring that more nitrogen is taken in
from the soil and very little is lost. In most cotton cropping systems, the volume of inorganic and
organic nitrogen has reached a saturation point. The percentage of nitrogen in soil is changing
very slowly. If nitrogen is not absorbed from the soil, it means there is leaching, denitrification
or volatilization happening. In such situations, the overall nitrogen utilization efficiency of the
crops should include the amount of inorganic and organic nitrogen pools to make sure nitrogen
recovery efficiency is relatively high.