To study the effects of agronomic practices on incidence and development of damping-off and verticillium wilt diseases, yield and yield components of cotton, two field experiments were conducted in Karkandeh Cotton Disease Research Station, 35 Km west of Gorgan, Iran-using split plot arrangements in randomized complete block design with three replications. Autumn agronomic practices: 1- without agronomic practices as control, 2- chopper, 3- chopper + disk, 4- chopper + moldboard plow, 5- chopper + disk plow, 6- moldboard plow,7- disk plow were assigned to main plots. Spring agronomic practices: 1- moldboard plow + disk and 2- disk were randomized in sub-plots. Combined analysis of variances showed that damping-off and verticillium wilt incidences were severely affected by interactions of agronomic tillage practices (autumn and spring tillages). Hence, moldboard plow × spring disk and (chopper + autumn moldboard plow) × spring disk had the least effect of incidence of pre-emergence damping-off and verticillium wilt diseases, respectively. The highest rate of incidence of damping-off disease due to Rhizoctonia solani was observed in chopper × spring disk package (62.5%). The highest and lowest seed cotton yield were obtained from (chopper + autumn moldboard plow) × (spring moldboard plow + disk), and (chopper + autumn disk) × (spring moldboard plow+disk), respectively. It is concluded that field establishment and reduce losses of damping-off and verticillium wilt diseases were significantly improved by implementation of the suitable agronomic practices for seedbed preparation in cotton production.
Hoshyarfard M, Ghajari A. Effect of tillage and residue management on damping-off and verticillium wilt diseases, yield and yield components of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Iranian Journal of Crop Sciences. 2010; 12 (2) :127-139 URL: http://agrobreedjournal.ir/article-1-179-en.html