Conformance of sowing dates for maximizing heat use efficiency and seed cotton yield in arid to semi-arid cotton zone of Pakistan

Pakistan is placed among the most vulnerable countries with relation to climate change and its impacts on agricultural productivity. Cotton is staged as the cash crop of the country and the main source of raw material for textile, oil, and feed industry. Varying environmental attributes have significant effects on the duration of vegetative and reproductive stages of cotton crop. To evaluate the potential impacts of varied temperatures regimes in different sowing times, field experiments were carried out throughout the cotton growing areas of Pakistan from Faisalabad in Central Punjab to RYK in Southern Punjab and Sakrand in Sindh to Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Province. Crop was sown on six different sowing dates starting from 1st March towards 15th May with 2-week intervals for two crop seasons (2016 and 2017). The timing of phenological events like emergence, squaring, flowering, and boll opening was recorded on calendar days and cumulative heat units (GDDs) were calculated for flowering and boll opening stages. Heat use efficiency for these sowing times was estimated. Data regarding yield-related parameters like opened bolls per plant, average boll weight, and seed cotton yield were also recorded during the study. Results revealed that duration of the growth stages was significantly affected by variation in mean thermal kinetics in varied sowing times in all four different environments. Seed cotton yield and heat use efficiency were also varied among the locations and sowing dates. The maximum seed cotton yield was recorded in Sakrand location at 15th April sowing date. The dependence of the phenological advancement on temperature and negative impacts of higher thermal stress on cotton productivity were also confirmed throughout the cotton growing zone of Pakistan.