This paper is relevant to the impact areas in the following areas:
| Crops | Cotton |
| Traits | Insect Res. (BT), Insect Resistance |
| Countries | India |
| Regions | Asia |
| Tags | biotechnology, conservation tillage, environmental |
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Transgenic Bt cotton hybrids, in India, now constitute more than 90% of the cotton area. Conservation tillage systems such as reduced tillage (RT) improve soil health and crop productivity. Field experiments were conducted to study the response of Bt cotton hybrids to the tillage methods in a split plot design for three years (2005–2006 to 2007–2008) with tillage practices as main plots (conventional tillage {CT}, RT with two inter-row cultivations {RT1} and RT with no inter-row cultivation {RT2}). In the sub-plot, in situ green manure (GM) was included along with 100 (GM + N100), 80 (GM + N80) and 60 kg N ha−1 (GM + N60) and were compared to N alone (N100). Tillage and green manure cover effects on Bt transgenic cotton hybrid were studied.
Highlights: â–º Weed density and biomass were lower in the RT than the CT. â–º The RT treatments produced significantly greater seed cotton yield than the CT treatments. â–º Aggregate stability was improved in the RT and GM amended plots than in those without. â–º RT and GM cover had no adverse effect on fibre quality parameters of the Bt cotton.
Tillage and green manure effects on Bt transgenic cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) hybrid grown on rainfed Vertisols of central India (held on an external server, and so may require additional authentication details)
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