Bt Cotton Hybrids Performance for Different Spacing Under Rainfed Conditions in Black Cotton Soils of Adilabad District in Telangana

A field experiment was conducted in black cotton soils soils during Kharif 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh at three different locations through farmers participatory mode to find out the response of BG-II cotton hybrids under two different spacings in rainfed conditions. These experiments were carried out by the district Agricultural Advisory and Transfer of Technology Center, Adilabad in collaboration with ATMA project functioning at Adilabad. Three cotton hybrids viz., Mallika BG-II, Rasi BG-II and Paras Brahma BG –II which are most popular among the farmers were sown under two different spacing’s in different soils. The data revealed that, hybrids did not differ significantly in plant height, number of sympodial branches/plant, number of bolls/plant, boll weight and kapas yield in both the years of testing and also in both the soils. But, spacings had significantly influenced number of bolls/plant, boll weight and kapas yield. However, interaction effect was significant only for plant height. Closer spacing of 90 x 60 cm in BC soils (2300 and 2450 kg ha^-1) gave significantly higher kapas yield than wider spacing of 120 x 90 cm (1767 and 1983kg ha^-1) during both the years of investigation, respectively. Thus, it is concluded that Bt hybrids need to be planted with higher plant density to realize good yields.