Background: Over the years, cotton cultivation and production has been increasing quantitatively in the country. India, being one of the five largest cotton producing countries in the world, the entire cotton is picked manually. Increase in the wage rate of human labour is the major factor responsible for the drastic rise in cost of cotton cultivation which accounts for 30% of the total cost of cultivation. Considering the issues and challenges with respect to high operation costs, labour scarcity and adaption to various field condition, a research work has been undertaken to develop a self-propelled single row cotton picker. 
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Methods: A self-propelled single row cotton picker was developed and evaluated for its performance. Energy spent in the field and energy use efficiency in both machine picking and traditional practices was measured in terms of man hour&rsquo;s expressed in megajoules per hectare (MJ ha-1). Straight line method was adopted for performing the cost economics. 
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Result: Energy use efficiency was found to be less in case of manual picking i.e., 17.4% compared to 31.7% in machine picking. Similarly, energy productivity in case of manual and machine picking was calculated to be 1.48 kg MJ-1&nbsp;and 2.65 kg MJ-1, respectively. Cost of self-propelled single row cotton picker was calculated to be is Rs. 8,50,000. Cost of operation using developed prototype was found to be 789 Rs h-1&nbsp;and 5,175 Rs ha-1&nbsp;with a saving of 70% compared to manual picking. Also, 90% saving in labour hours spent in harvesting was noted. Payback period of the machine was calculated as 4.8 years. Breakeven analysis was found to be 275 h yr-1. 
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Energy use Efficiency and Economic Feasibility of Self-propelled Single Row Cotton Picker over Traditional Cotton Picking Practices

<div>Background: Cotton is one of the oldest crops in the world. About 60 million people are directly engaged in cotton textiles and processing works. Cotton is an important cash crop. In some places, it is called &ldquo;white gold&rdquo; because it brings in foreign exchange. India is one of the top cotton producers and exporters in the world. 85% of the world&rsquo;s cotton is cultivated in ten major countries, including India, which is the second-largest producer. India has a competitive advantage in the production of cotton. The study&rsquo;s objective is to find out the relative yield efficiency between the states of India in cotton farming. 
 
Methods: The Secondary data of cotton production is collected from the website of INDIASTAT. The ANOVA is used to calculate the relative yield efficiency of cotton. 
 
Result: The paper&rsquo;s result is calculated using SPSS V22 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). The result shows that Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Orissa have the highest efficiency in cotton yield, while Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have the lowest efficiency in cotton yield and the rest states have the average yield. In Maharashtra and Karnataka, rainfall was uneven and soil fertility was not good. The dryland of Karnataka played an important role in less productivity of cotton. Punjab, Haryana and Gujrat had better soil fertility which makes it better for cotton yield. Government should take the necessary steps to increase the average yield of cotton by shifting cotton farming from the low-yield region to the high-yield region. The government should promote cotton production where the yield is higher and demote cotton farming where the yield is lower. Government should also promote &ldquo;better cotton&rdquo; farming because it is more sustainable and has a higher yield with a lower cost of cultivation.</div>

Efficiency in Cotton Production Across the States in India

<div>Background: Cotton is one of the important commercial crops cultivated in India for fibre and oil. The average cotton productivity of India is lower compared to other countries. Among the improved agronomic practices, important yield contributing agro techniques are crop geometry and fertilizer application. Drip irrigation and use of water soluble fertilizers (WSF) by drip system is a recommended practice to increase both water and nutrient use efficiency. Taking this aspect, a field investigation was carried out to find the resource use efficiency, productivity and profitability of inter specific Bt cotton hybrid with different levels crop geometry and drip fertigation. 
 
Methods: A field experiment was conducted at TNAU, Coimbatore during 2013 and 2014 for two consecutive years. The experiment was laid out in a strip plot design with three replications. The treatments in main plot consisted of four crop geometry levels (120 x 60 cm, 120 x 90 cm, 150 x 60 cm and 150 x 90 cm) and sub plots consisted of four nutrient levels viz., 75 %, 100 %, 125 % of recommended dose as water soluble fertilizer (WSF) through drip system and as conventional practice. Resource use efficiency (water, nutrient), seed cotton yield and profitability of the system were recorded. 
 
Result: The experiment revealed that the fertilizer use efficiency and the efficiency of individual nutrient (partial factor productivity) for the crop geometry of 120 x 90 cm and 75% RDF were higher in both the years. &nbsp;The crop geometry of 120 x 90 cm in combination with 125% RDF effectively utilized the water as indicated by its water use efficiency and comparable results was also obtained with 100% RDF. &nbsp;The mean (2012-13 and 2013-14) seed cotton yield of 2,713 kg ha-1 in 120 x 90 cm kg ha-1 for 125% RDF was 41.5 per cent higher compared to their lower counterpart. Their interaction was significant, consequently the treatment M2S3 (120 x 90 cm and 125% RDF) recorded higher mean (both years) seed cotton of 3,176 kg ha-1 which was nearly 93.7 per cent increase over conventional irrigation and fertilizer application (M4S4). Here M1S2 could be considered as alternate option as it maintained similarity with the best treatment. The gross and net return was estimated to be higher with spacing of 120 x 90 cm with 125 % RDF and however the benefit cost ratio was higher with 120 x 90 cm with 100 % RDF followed by 120 x 60 cm with 100 % RDF.&nbsp;</div>

<div>Resource Use Efficiency, Productivity and Profitability of Bt Cotton (interspecific) as Influenced by Crop Geometry and Drip Fertigation</div>

Background: Cotton production is labour intensive in almost all the developing countries where it is picked by hand. However, due to acute labour shortage in recent times, mechanized harvesting is gaining momentum. Mechanized harvesting requires the application of defoliants, which reduces the cost of labour used for picking cotton and maximum cotton can be picked in a single pick (one picking) and providing timely sowing of next crop. So, farmers can get benefit of two crops instead of one single long duration cotton crop. Researchers have conducted various studies on defoliation in cotton using different chemicals and different defoliation methods. However, in India their usage could not be exploited much due to their limited availability. 
 
Methods: A field experiment entitled &ldquo;Studies on defoliants in high density planting cotton-greengram sequence&rdquo; was conducted during 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 on clay soils at Agricultural College Farm, Bapatla. Crop diversification of cotton with pulses (Greengram) is an alternative cropping system for monocropping of cotton to get higher returns and high land use efficiency.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
Result: Total cotton equivalent yield was highest with dropp ultra @ 250 ml ha-1 (D1) which was on par with Etherel @ 3000 ppm (D3) in 2018 and in pooled data. 80% boll opening recorded maximum total cotton equivalent yield, which was on par with node above cracked boll. Land use efficiency and production use efficiency were highest in late sown (80% boll opening) plots. The highest net returns and returns per rupee investment were noticed with application of defoliant dropp ultra @ 250 ml ha-1 (D1) and at 80% boll opening.

Crop Diversification of Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) based Cropping System for High Resource Use Efficiency

Background: Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is crop of economic importance in global and national scale. India is the greatest producer of quality cotton, the third largest exporter and the second largest consumer. Conventional cotton farming creates environmental pressures and negative impact on public health. Organic farming is the sustainability option in cotton production. Cotton is the energy intensive crop, which uses high amount of input energy to produce seed cotton. Hence, energy budgeting is highly essential for better energy utilization and resource conservation and also measuring the input use efficiency of a farm/agronomic practices is vitally important in present day Indian agriculture.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: Sensing the economic importance of cotton, ten number of eco-friendly, ecologically safe organic nutrient management (ONM) practices were framed and field experiment was conducted in split plot design with two main plots (M) and five subplots (S) and replicated thrice. The direct and indirect energy used in different ONM practices were computed and energy coefficients were computed from energy equivalents and that has been used as inputs to generate efficiency coefficients by using an input oriented DEA approach. 
 
Result: Energy budgeting on field operation basis reported that, the field preparation and irrigation operation uses most of the energy (in non-renewable forms) which needs attention and there is the scope to find alternative energy conservation systems. Results on input use efficiency reported that the ONM practice, double green manuring followed by cotton and application of well decomposed poultry manure and foliar application of fermented fish extract at 5% concentration at 25 and 35 DAS are 100% efficient in terms of technical CRS, technical VRS, scale, allocative and cost efficiencies. This organic nutrient management practice would produce optimum output from the least amount of input and would be ideal for sustainable cotton production.&nbsp;

Energy Budgeting and Efficiency Analysis of Organic Cotton: A DEA Approach

<div style="text-align: justify;">To evaluate the efficacy of some pre and post-emergence herbicides for weed control in Bt cotton (var. Beejdhan 2), a field experiment was conducted during rainy seasons of 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 at Junagadh (Gujarat, India). The dominant weed flora in cotton field were Digera arvensis, Eluropus villosus, Cyperus rotundus, Cynodon dactylon, Echinochloa crusgalli, Chenopodium album, Convolvulus arvensis, Trianthema monogyna, Amaranthus spinosus, Commelina benghalensis and Asphodelus tenuifolius. The results revealed that treatments viz., hand weeding (HW) and interculturing (IC) at 30, 60 and 90 DAS, pendimethalin 0.9 kg ha-1 as pre-emergence fb HW and IC at 30 and 60 DAS, and pendimethalin 0.9 kg ha-1 as pre-emergence fb quizalofop 40 g ha-1 as post-emergence at 45 DAS were found superior to the unweeded check in enhancing growth and yield attributes viz., plant height, number of monopodial and sympodial branches plant-1, number of bolls plant-1, single boll weight and seed cotton weight plant-1 and ultimately increased seed cotton and stalk yields. These treatments also recorded lower dry weight of weeds and weed index along with higher weed control efficiency, net return and B:C ratio as compared to unweeded check.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Efficiency of some herbicides and manual weeding for weed control in irrigated Bt cotton&nbsp;</div>

Background: Intercropping cotton with pulses and millets, forming a multi-tier system, has the potential to shift the cost-intensive cotton production system towards a more profitable and sustainable approach. The study aimed to explore suitable intercrop combinations for multitier cultivation in cotton under rainfed conditions. 
 
Methods: The experiment involved seven multi.tier Bt cotton intercropping systems and two sole Bt cotton treatments with different spacing tried in a randomized block design with three replications during the kharif seasons of 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23. 
 
Result: The study showed significant effects of various multi-tier cropping systems on cotton&rsquo;s growth attributes, yield traits and yield. Seed cotton equivalent yield varied between 864 to 1401 kg/ha in different intercropping systems. In comparison, sole Bt cotton yielded 1103 kg/ha and the farmer&rsquo;s practice resulted in 827 kg/ha.

Assessing the Influence of Crop Diversification of Intercrops with Cotton on Growth and Yield Characteristics of Cotton

Background: Cotton, a perennial crop, can greatly benefit from pruning, which assists in rejuvenating aged plants and enhancing yields comparable to those of the primary crop. However, research on pruning (ratooning) cotton remains limited. In this study, we investigated the effects of pruning and drip fertigation on yield and yield characteristics of ELS cotton CO14.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: The study was conducted in a farmer&#39;s field in Nallur village, Bhavanisagar block, Erode district, Tamil Nadu, India, using a split-plot design replicated thrice. Main plots received fertigation treatments (M1-75% NPK, M2-100% NPK, M3-125% NPK, M4-STCR), while subplots were designated for different pruning techniques (S1-15 cm, S2-30 cm, S3-45 cm). 
 
Result: Findings showed that drip fertigation with M3-125% NPK resulted in highest plant height (109.35 and 113.06), LAI (4.06 and 4.02), higher counts of sympodial branches plant-1 (19.73 and14.46), squares plant-1 (128.00 and108.27), bolls plant-1 (59.44 and 45.98), boll setting percentage (46.66 and 42.51), yield (28.56 and 19.34 q/ha) and HI (0.46 and 0.43) in main crop and pruned crop. Concerning pruning techniques, cotton pruned at S3-45 cm height exhibited significantly greater counts of sympodial branches plant-1 (13.76), squares plant-1 (103.44), flowers plant-1 (16.66), bolls plant-1 (36.88), boll setting percentage (35.35), yield (16.87 q/ha) and HI (0.40). Interaction analysis between main and subplot treatments revealed that 125% fertigation with 45 cm pruning height led to significantly higher counts of sympodial branches plant-1 (15.60) and flowers plant-1 (18.58). Thus, it is recommended to implement fertigation at 125% NPK+pruning at a 45 cm cut height to attain superior yields and yield characteristics.

Optimizing Growth and Yield of Cotton: Exploring Pruning and Drip Fertigation Techniques on ELS Cotton CO14

<div>Low phosphorus (P) availability is the major abiotic constraint in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivation across the globe as well as in India. Present study contemplated to identify high P-acquisition efficient chickpea genotypes suitable for P-deficient regions and sequence variation was detected among the tested P-acquisition efficient and inefficient genotypes. Initial screening was conducted with 104 diverse chickpea genotypes at two locations characterized by P-sufficient and deficient conditions. A panel of 14 chickpea genotypes having contrasting P-acquisition efficiency was extracted for further assessment under P-sufficient and deficient conditions. Along with the significant genetic variations, the P-efficient chickpea genotypes had high P-acquisition efficiency than P-inefficient genotypes in both the conditions. P-acquisition efficient genotypes recorded high biomass and good yield potential in P-deficient condition in comparison to P-inefficient genotypes. Sequence analysis of the CaSPX3 domain containing protein gene from P-acquisition efficient and inefficient genotypes identified two single nucleotide polymorphisms in the 5&cent; - untranslated region. Present findings might be of great importance in future marker-assisted breeding in chickpea especially for P-deficient soil.</div>

Screening for Phosphorus (P) Acquisition Efficient Genotypes and Identification of Sequence Variations among P-Efficient and Inefficient Genotypes in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Background: The transition to organic farming in Kerala, motivated by environmental and health concerns associated with chemical-intensive agriculture, encounters challenges related to productivity and resource efficiency during the conversion phase. Despite policy initiatives, the technical efficiency of organic vegetable farming remains insufficiently explored, impeding evidence-based interventions. This study examines the technical efficiency of organic vegetable farmers in northern Kerala and identifies determinants to inform strategies for enhancing sustainability and profitability. 
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Methods: Primary data from 361 certified organic vegetable farmers were analyzed using a stochastic production frontier model with a truncated normal distribution. The Cobb-Douglas production function evaluated inputs (land, labor, capital, organic manure) and socio-economic factors (age, education, experience). Technical inefficiency effects were modeled via a one-step maximum likelihood approach. 
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Result: Farmers operated at an average technical efficiency of 21.4%, indicating significant underutilization of resources. Key determinants included experience (reducing inefficiency) and age (increasing inefficiency). Organic manure and land size positively impacted output, while education improved efficiency among full-time farmers. Over 75% of farmers required more than a 70% improvement to achieve full efficiency. The findings underscore the necessity for targeted training, enhanced access to organic inputs and institutional support to optimize resource use and sustain Kerala&rsquo;s organic transition.