Sustaining cotton productivity through agronomic interventions – a meta-analysis for North India

Indian cotton is being grown under extremely diverse soil and agro-climatic regions. Therefore, crop production techniques also vary accordingly. Among different agronomic techniques,selection of improved cultivars, optimum sowing time, ideal plant population, economic and efficient land preparation/tillage techniques, remunerative site-specific cropping patterns/efficient cropping systems, weed management strategies, water harvesting/ soil and moisture conservation with special reference to drip irrigation/fertigation and finally efficient harvesting methods (viz. picking, cleaning & storage etc.) play crucial role in increasing the cotton productivity.Modern agronomic concepts like high density planting systems (HDPS) are emerging out, though demand a greater degree of refinement in lieu of production/protection techniques. Genotype specific agronomic practices in location specific niches, management of crop canopy through growth regulators (retardants and defoliants with special reference to HDPS) for better quality and timely sowing of succeeding Rabi crops, and above all improvised crop health by integrated nutrient management (INM) with special emphasis on foliar feeding mode can tremendously increase cotton productivity and result in improving the socio-economic status of cotton growers. Continuous refurbishment of all agronomic technologies is sought to get higher yield and boost productivity. Besides this, limitations in achieving targeted productivity levels need to be identified for improving production packages. Breaking yield barriers is crucial to enhance crop productivity besides much requisite lower production cost. Certainly, progress in science has paved the path for refined technologies. Higher degree of sophistication and adoption of better agronomic techniques such as surface and sub-surface drip fertigation, foliar application of chemicals to counter abiotic stresses, judicious fertilizer application and HDPS depending upon the suitability of crop zones could definitely help in boosting productivity