Cotton farming — season guide: stages, tasks & pest watch

A stage-by-stage guide for growing cotton in India (~165 days) — what to do when, the fertilizer schedule, and the pests to watch. Confirm specifics with your local KVK.

This is a practical, season-long guide for cotton — built from package-of-practice norms. Always confirm doses, products and exact timing with your local KVK / agriculture officer; conditions vary by area and year.

Crop stages

• Sowing & germination (day 0–15)

• Vegetative growth (day 15–60)

• Squaring & flowering (day 60–100)

• Boll development (day 100–145)

• Boll opening & picking (day 145–165)

What to do, when

• Day 0: Sow cotton + basal fertilizer

• Day 30: Thinning + 1st N top-dress

• Day 45: Scout for jassids / whitefly

• Day 65: N + K at squaring + set pheromone traps

• Day 105: Scout for pink bollworm

• Day 145: First picking

• Day 165: Final picking + plan market

Fertilizer schedule (soil-test led)

• Sowing & germination: FYM + full P + K + 1/3 N (basal) — 50 kg P2O5 + 25 kg K2O — soil-test-led

• Squaring & flowering: N split + K — ~30 kg N + 20 kg K2O — split over squaring/flowering

• Boll development: Final N + K — ~25 kg N — stop N late to avoid excess vegetative growth

Pests & diseases to watch (IPM first)

• Vegetative growth: Jassids / whitefly — yellow sticky traps, neem; confirm with KVK

• Boll development: Pink bollworm — pheromone traps, timely picking, destroy stubble; confirm chemical with KVK

A note on cost & price

Plan your inputs against a budget and track spend as you go. Mandi prices move through the season — check current rates before selling; khetigpt sends price alerts for your district. The figures here are estimates, not guarantees.