15. Climate change effects on cotton planting date and planting density using modelling techniques: Review
Abstract
Cotton is regarded as a cash crop in Pakistan and the country is ranked 5th in terms of production and 5th importer in the world as well. Climate change has threatened the world agriculture due to the severity of biotic and abiotic stresses. Major threats to cotton production in Pakistan are due to decreased irrigation water, fluctuating rainfall frequency and intensity, warm spells, drought and salinization. In this review, the effect of climate change, planting date, plating density on cotton production and crop modeling approaches for increasing cotton production are discussed. Cotton crop is influenced by many factors and planting date is most important which is very sensitive to temperature variability and planted on the large ecological regions. The most significant and manageable factor for cotton crop is optimum planting time for new cultivar in region. Planting density has also greatly influence on the crop growth and optimum planting density is crucial factor for leaf area index, seed cotton yield, ginning out turn and fiber quality. Crop simulation model helped the researcher to determine the management strategy, climate yield variability interaction and use as simulation tools for farming practices. Efficient modeling tools are used to optimize the best planting date, fertilizer rate and time of application. This study further helps to investigate the multiple factors that become the reason of cotton production in Pakistan. Overall, this review will help to optimize the effect of planting date, plant population and the growth of cotton production.
Keywords: Cotton; Crop modelling; Climate change; Planting date; Planting density
