Cotton |
| Posted by Abuja (admin) on Wednesday, 16th January, 2008 at 3:32 AM |
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is grown on over 33 million hectares worldwide, from which 12 million metric tons has given an average yield of 0.35MT/ha.
In Nigeria, two broad agronomic zones have been identified, namely Northern and Southern Cotton Zones. Cotton is cultivated in Nigeria on 0.6 0.8 million hectares annually. The major producing areas in the north are Kastina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau, Yobe, Borno, Taraba and Adamawa states. The southern cotton zone comprises Kwara, Ogun, Ondo and Oyo States.
Cotton grows well on moderately fertile clay and sandy loam soils with pH of 5.2 pH 8. The best cotton lands are mixture of clay and sandy loam that contains a fair amount of organic manure and a moderately amount of available N.P.K. Fertilizer requirements are: 50kg N; (2bags urea) 25kg P2O5 (3 bags BSPP); 20kg K2O 4 bags of CAN and 0.75kg of B. Heavier soil promotes late maturity and more vegetative growth and greater boll weevil damage.
Cotton tolerates salinity but thrives best on non-saline soils.Cotton yield depends on soil fertility, climatic conditions and proper timing of all the cultural practices (sowing date, maintenance methods, fertilization and crop protection) method.
Crop loss can be substantial due to pests and diseases. Cotton pathogens may be fungi, bacteria, virus or mycoplasmas. Insects and pests affecting cotton yield include:
v Soil arthropods
v Stinging insects
v Lead-eating insects
v Bollworms
v Hemiptera & bolls rots
v Mites
Varieties of cotton that are planted in Nigeria are Samcot 9, Samcot 8, Samcot 10, Samaru 77. However, only samcots 9 and 8 are predominantly planted in the two cotton zones in the northern part of the country.
The average annual production figures for cotton from Plateau, Sokoto, Niger, Borno, Taraba, Kaduna and Zamfara states as revealed by the survey conducted by State Agricultural Development Projects was 8,3313.1MT, 4,2177.8MT, 3,4919.9MT, 3,2312.8MT, 3,4919.9MT,3212.8MT and 4,861.3MT for 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 respectively
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