MULTAN: The Farmers Advisory Committee (FAC) has urged cotton growers to adopt timely pest management, heat stress mitigation, and improved agronomic practices to ensure healthy crop growth and higher yields during the ongoing cotton season. The recommendations were issued during the seventh meeting of the FAC held at the Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI), Multan, under the chairpersonship of Director CCRI Sabahat Hussain.
Key Recommendations for Pest Control
The meeting was informed that farmers with cotton crops aged between one-and-a-half and two months should install 10 yellow sticky traps per acre for effective control of whitefly. The adhesive material on these traps should be renewed every 15 to 20 days. Growers were advised to apply recommended pesticides if whitefly populations exceed economic threshold levels.
For protection against pink bollworm, experts recommended the installation of 10 pheromone traps per acre for management purposes and one trap per five acres for monitoring. Pheromone capsules should be replaced every 15 days. The committee observed that pest pressure in cotton-growing areas was approaching economic threshold levels and advised farmers to take timely measures against jassids and thrips through the application of recommended pesticides where necessary.
Heat Stress Mitigation and Nutrition
To protect crops from heat stress and improve boll formation and retention, growers were advised to apply a balanced foliar spray containing potassium sulphate, magnesium sulphate, zinc sulphate, borax, and urea mixed in 125 litres of water per acre. The spray should be applied during morning or evening hours and repeated after 15 days for better results.
Additional Agronomic Practices
The meeting also advised farmers producing cotton seed to begin roguing operations in crops aged 30 to 35 days. Growers engaged in cotton picking were urged to ensure proper drying of seed cotton, complete ginning without delay, and store seed only after conducting germination tests. Participants were further advised to manage irrigation according to prevailing weather conditions, avoid heavy flooding, and complete thinning and gap filling in 25 to 30-day-old crops, followed by the application of DAP or NPK fertilizer.
The committee also recommended integrated weed management practices, including careful use of glyphosate in triple-gene cotton varieties and rotary hoeing during the first 50 days of crop growth.
Meeting Attendees and Future Plans
The meeting was attended by heads of various departments, including Sajid Mahmood, Dr Muhammad Akbar, Dr Ahmad, Dr Rabia Saeed, Dr Asia Parveen, and Scientific Officer Junaid Ahmad Daha. It was announced that the eighth meeting of the Farmers Advisory Committee would be held on June 16 at CCRI Multan.
