Open AccessEconomic Analysis of Parawilt Management in Bt-Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in Mansa District of South-western Punjab, India
Author(s) -
Gurdeep Singh,
Pritpal Singh,
K. K. Singh,
G. P. S. Sodhi,
Bhallan Singh Sekhon
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
indian journal of extension education
Language(s) - English
DOI - 10.48165/ijee.2022.58121
Subject(s) - gossypium hirsutum , economic analysis , yield (engineering) , bt cotton , cobalt chloride , cobalt , irrigation , agronomy , toxicology , horticulture , biology , chemistry , materials science , agricultural economics , economics , inorganic chemistry , metallurgy
Parawilt characterized by a sudden drooping of leaves followed by death of plants withinfew hours after rainfall or heavy irrigation has been the major physiological disorder affectingproductivity of Bt-Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). We studied the effect of foliarapplication of cobalt chloride (@10 mg L-1 water) within 24-36 hours after appearance ofsymptoms on recovery rate, seed cotton yield and economics at farmers’ fields in Mansadistrict of south-western Punjab. The results of front line demonstrations revealed thatfoliar application of cobalt chloride resulted in significantly (p<0.05) higher seed cottonyield by ~9.1 per cent, compared with the control (no-spray). The mean gross returns(MGRs) increased significantly by Rs. 9620/- ha-1 in the demonstration plots. The higherbenefit-cost (B:C) ratio of 2.38 was observed for the demonstration plots, against 2.15 forthe control (no-spray). The foliar application of cobalt chloride resulted in higher averageproduction efficiency of 1.1 kg seed cotton yield ha-1 d-1 and average economic efficiencyof Rs. 65.7 ha-1 d-1, compared with the control. These results therefore, revealed that farmerscan effectively manage parawilt in Bt-cotton using foliar application of cobalt chloride andmay increase seed cotton yield and economic returns.