The Effect of Date of Planting on the Performance of Promising Cotton Varieties

Abstract

An experiment to test the effect of date of planting on the yield of new advanced lines of cotton from the crops improvement programme at the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) was conducted at Nyankpala between May and December 2000. Three cotton lines, namely; Sarcot 4, Sarcot 5 and Sarcot 10 as well as FK290, a commercial variety were each planted on five different dates follows: May 26, June 9, June 23, July 7 and July 21. The experiment was implemented in a split plot design with three replicates. The crops were planted at a spacing of 90cm x 30cm. The results of the experiment showed that early planted cotton varieties yield better than late planted ones. Late planted crops suffered more bollworm damage than early planted ones. The Sarcot lines used in this study responded well to earlier dates of planting than the late ones. Early planting is therefore recommended to farmers in the study area. However, planting should not be done too early ( as early as May) since bolls will start opening September when it will still be raining heavily and will definitely affect the quality of the lint negatively.

Key Words: Cotton, Varieties, Effect, Date of Planting, Performance