Assessing the Impact of Tillage Practices and Organic Manures on the Growth and Productivity of Cotton in Vertisols

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during Kharif 2023 at the Research Farm of the Department of Soil Science, Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, to evaluate the effects of different tillage practices and organic manure applications on the growth and productivity of cotton cultivated in Vertisols. The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomised block design comprising four tillage treatments, namely conventional tillage, reduced tillage, minimum tillage and zero tillage, in combination with four organic manure treatments: farmyard manure at 10 t ha⁻¹, vermicompost at 5 t ha⁻¹, phosphocompost at 5 t ha⁻¹ and an untreated control without manure application.Plant height, branches, squares, bolls, root characteristics, seed cotton yield, and stalk yield were evaluated. Conventional tillage generally produced the greatest plant height, reproductive growth, root development, seed cotton yield, and stalk yield, whereas zero tillage recorded the lowest values. Farmyard manure produced the greatest plant height, while phosphocompost showed favourable effects on branching, square and boll formation, root growth, and yield. Conventional tillage produced a seed cotton yield of 14.10 q ha⁻¹ and a stalk yield of 27.78 q ha⁻¹. Among organic manure treatments, phosphocompost produced mean seed cotton and stalk yields of 11.25 and 22.07 q ha⁻¹, respectively. Significant interaction effects were observed for plant height, squares, bolls, seed cotton yield, and stalk yield, whereas interactions for branch number, root length, and root volume were non-significant. These findings demonstrate that tillage and organic manure management substantially influenced cotton performance under the Vertisol conditions evaluated.