🌿 Cotton • Crop Calendar
Cotton Crop Calendar
Pre-sowing treatment, disease identification, disease management, whitefly control and field monitoring from April to September — based on the information provided in the source document.
📅 Month-wise Disease & Management Calendar
Effective crop management begins with making the right decisions at the right time. This Desi Cotton Crop Calendar presents essential agricultural practices, crop growth stages, disease identification, and management measures in a systematic month-wise format, helping farmers monitor their crop effectively and take timely preventive and management actions.
01
April
Before Sowing • Field Preparation
Cotton — Seed & Soil Treatment
- In disease-prone fields, mix 6 kg zinc sulphate (commercial grade) into the soil per bigha before sowing.
- Before soaking, treat the seeds with a 0.2% carbendazim or 0.3% carboxin solution.
- Alternatively, use the bio-agents Trichoderma harzianum or Pseudomonas fluorescens at 10 g per kg of seed.
- In fields with severe disease incidence, mix Trichoderma harzianum with 50 kg well-decomposed farmyard manure, keep it moist in shade for 10–15 days, and incorporate it into the soil during field preparation.
- In areas affected by leaf curl disease, prefer resistant varieties and keep weeds under control along field bunds and canal banks.
🌱 Key Advice: Pay special attention to seed and soil treatment before sowing.
02
May
Early Crop • 30–35 Days
Monitoring for Bacterial Blight & Leaf Curl
- In Narma cotton, symptoms of bacterial blight may appear about 30–35 days after sowing as water-soaked, dark-green circular spots on the leaves, especially along the margins; these later turn brown to black.
- Disease incidence may increase if 20–30 mm of rainfall occurs during this period after sowing.
- The document recommends treating seed with a solution of 1 g Streptocycline or 10 g Plantomycin per 10 litres of water.
- In leaf curl disease, symptoms first appear on the young upper leaves; the veins become thick and dark, and the leaves curl upward or sometimes downward.
- The disease is transmitted by whiteflies, so regular whitefly control and weed management around the field are essential.
🌱 Key Advice: Inspect new leaves regularly and do not ignore the presence of whiteflies.
03
June
Crop Growth • Clear Disease Identification
Root Rot & Leaf Curl Management
- 7–10 days after the first irrigation, uproot and destroy plants wilted by root rot, including their roots, to prevent further spread.
- In Narma cotton, leaf curl symptoms become clearly visible in June. Diseased plants remain shorter than healthy plants, and their leaves may appear cup-shaped or curled.
- Use recommended insecticides for whitefly control.
- Regularly remove weeds such as yellow-flowered weeds, bhang, bhakhri and other alternate hosts around the field and along roads or canals.
🌱 Key Advice: Both early removal of root-rot affected plants and effective whitefly control are important.
04
July
American Cotton • Rainy Period
Blight & Leaf Curl Management
- In American cotton, blight produces angular, water-soaked spots on the underside of leaves, which later turn brown to black.
- When symptoms appear, spray a solution of 5–10 g Streptocycline or 50–100 g Plantomycin in 100 litres of water.
- Alternatively, the document provides information on using copper oxychloride at 250–300 g per 100 litres of water.
- When leaf curl symptoms are clearly visible in Narma cotton, continue whitefly control and weed removal around the field.
🌱 Key Advice: Regularly monitor disease spots on leaves during the rainy period.
05
August
Disease Incidence • Continuous Monitoring
Blight & Leaf Curl — Continue Management
- Depending on blight incidence in American cotton, spray the recommended Streptocycline/Plantomycin or copper oxychloride in 100 litres of water.
- If leaf curl disease is active, spray recommended insecticides to control the whiteflies that transmit the disease.
- Continue removing weeds from the field, around the field, and along roads or canals at regular intervals.
- Continuously monitor diseased plants and surrounding symptoms so that timely management can be carried out if incidence increases.
🌱 Key Advice: In August, emphasis is placed on repeating management measures according to disease incidence and maintaining weed control.
06
September
Final Disease Monitoring
Leaf Curl Disease — Whitefly Control
- If leaf curl disease occurs, spray recommended insecticides to control the whiteflies that transmit the disease.
- Continue removing alternate weed hosts inside and around the field.
- Regularly clear weeds growing along both sides of roads or canals, as they may contribute to disease spread.
🌱 Key Advice: Continue monitoring whiteflies and leaf curl until the final stage of the crop.