RT Journal T1 IMPROVING COTTON PRODUCTIVITY AND FIBER QUALITY THROUGH IMPLEMENTATION OF REDUCED TILLAGE AND BALANCED NUTRITION UNDER ARID CLIMATE A1 Riaz Hussain A1 Khalid Usman A1 Asghar Ali Khan A1 Qudrat Ullah Khan JF Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences JO JAPS SN 1018-7081 VO 36 IS 6 YR 2026 FD 2026 DO DOI https://doi.org/10.36899/JAPS.2026.6.0143 AB

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is a cash crop that plays a crucial role in the textile industry at global scale and Pakistan. However, its sustainable production is restricted by challenges like conventional tillage, imbalanced fertilization, water shortage and soil health degradation. Therefore, a two-year field study was conducted in Agricultural Research Institute, Ratta Kulachi, Dera Ismail Khan to compare the tillage operations coupled with nutritional regimes of balanced nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) to maintain the growth, yield and fiber quality traits of the cotton. The research treatments involved the tillage system (TS) reduced vs. conventional as main plots and NPK levels (NPK1 = 0:0:0, NPK2 = 200:0:0, NPK3 = 0:120:0, NPK4 = 0:0:150, NPK5 = 200:120:0, NPK6 = 200:0:150, NPK7 = 0:120:150, NPK8 = 200:120:150, and NPK9 = 250:170:200 kg ha-1) as subplots. The fiber quality and yield attributes of cotton were assessed after the harvest of cotton. The results of interactive effect of TS, NPK and Years were significant which influenced sympodial branches (plant-1), ginning outturn (%) and fiber strength (g tex-1) during both the years 2023 and 2024. However, balance NPK (200:120:150 kg ha-1) in combination with reduced tillage consistently outperformed and yielded maximum sympodial branches (59.2 in 2024 and 57.7 in 2023), plant height (151.5 cm in 2024), bolls plant-1 (60.7 in 2024 and 59.7 in 2023), seed cotton (2696 kg ha-1 in 2024 and 2646 kg ha-1 in 2023) and ginning outturn (71.9% in 2024 and 70.7% in 2023). This optimal fertilizer dose also improved fiber strength (30.0-31.0 g tex-1) which gave the highest net returns (1003.18 US $ ha-1) with benefit cost ratio (BCR) of 2.3. This study concluded that combination of reduced tillage and NPK (200:120:150 kg ha-1) adequately for sustainable cotton production under arid environment.

K1 Arid climate; Cotton productivity; Fiber quality; Nitrogen fertilization; Reduced tillage; Balanced NPK PB Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum LK https://thejaps.org.pk/AbstractView.aspx?mid=2026-JAPS-112