RESPONSE OF COTTON BH-121 TO SQUARE LOSS AT DIFFERENTGROWTH STAGES

Abstract

Studies of the response of BH-121 variety of cotton to total square removal was conducted to determine the impact of bollworm damage on phenology and yield of cotton by total fruit loss when sown at different planting dates and growth stages at Khokhar Farm, Multan. The bollworm damage (100% square removal) was simulated by manually removing all squares for three weeks each of early, mid and late flowering stages at a three days interval. The vegetative growth (number of main-stem nodes and plant height) in 100% square removal treatments increased significantly than that of undamaged control treatments among all growth stages and crop sowing dates. In contrast, the reproductive growth (number of squares per plant and seed cotton yield) significantly decreased in 100% simulation treatments than that of undamaged control treatments at different growth stages of crop.