Multiple Attributed Parametric Review Study on Mechanical Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Harvesters

Crop characteristics of cotton are crucial to identify the important crop attributes like plant height, canopy width, sympods and monopods distribution, row spacing which affects the performance of mechanical harvesters. The activity and effectiveness of most harvest aids, including desiccants is reduced by low temperature conditions. Trash content was observed to be lesser in cotton harvested by cotton picker than cotton harvested by cotton stripper. It was found that a maximum cotton yield of 1000 kg acre-1 was obtained for a cotton plant population ranging between 45,000 and 90,000 plants acre-1. Likewise, a minimum of 700 to 740 kg acre-1 was observed for a cotton plant population of 33,000 plants acre-1. In higher yielding cotton, cotton pickers recorded higher picking rate than cotton strippers. Picking/harvesting efficiency of cotton stripper with both finger and brush type mechanism was higher than the spindle type cotton picker. Picking efficiency of pneumatic picker was higher than the other types of picking mechanisms, but with lesser rate of picking capacity. Gin turnout of cotton was higher with cotton picker when compared with cotton stripper due to lesser trash content in picker harvested cotton. The horsepower requirement of cotton stripper ranged from ½ to ¼ horsepower and cost is about two-thirds of the price as compared with cotton picker. The scheduling and monitoring of various activities involved in cotton picking by using a suitable software model can increase the benefits of both growers and harvesting companies. The reduction in uniformity with roller gin-type lint cleaners ranged between 0.2 to 0.8%, which was lesser as compared with saw-type lint cleaners. Introducing mechanical harvesting has always been a decades-long process. In Turkey, it took 20 years and in Greece, this process took place very gradually over a 15-year period. Top cotton producing countries like India, Pakistan, China, Uzbekistan and other developing countries like Iran Paraguay are still not using machine harvesting. The introduction of mechanical cotton picker or stripper can help improve quality and quantity of cotton picking thereby giving more benefit to growers in developing countries and improving their socio-economic status. The most controversial issue raised by the introduction of the mechanical cotton harvester is great migration as the machines eliminated jobs and forced poor families to leave their homes and farms in search for urban jobs. Therefore Government policies towards cotton harvesting mechanization must include the alternative jobs, packages for dependent manual cotton pickers and their families.

VERTICAL SPINDLE COTTON HARVESTER WITH SYMMETRIC MOVEMENT OF SPINDLE DRUMS

The article deals with the trends in the development of structures, research work on modernization and creation of new vertical spindle cotton harvesting apparatus (CHA). Authors developed new CHA that works as follows: the CHA with a cotton picker moves on the cotton field; the cotton plants getting into the inter-drum slots are processed, that is, the raw cotton be harvested. The CHA are in their original position before picking raw cotton. When a thick cotton plant gets into the inter-drum slot of the front pair of drums, the spindle drums move apart and the inter-drum slot opens, while the connecting rods and the sliders move forward, providing the symmetrical opening of the slot relative to the longitudinal line of the cotton plant row. Further, this thick plant falls into the inter-drum slot of the second pair of drums, while the inter-drum slot of the second drums opens, while the connecting rods and the sliders move along the guides forward, providing the symmetrical opening of the slot relative to the longitudinal line of the cotton plant rows. With such a pairwise symmetric movement of the SD, depending on the thickness of the cotton plant, the force of spindle pressing on the cotton plant from both sides is identical and symmetrical, since the SD move symmetrically to the longitudinal line passing along the cotton plant row.

Investigating the cultural-morphological features of rhizobacteria and allocating it from the cotton plant (Gossýpium hirsútum): in the example of irrigated meadow soils of Uzbekistan

This paper investigates the cultural-morphological, physiological and biochemical properties of bacterial isolates with stimulating properties isolated from the rhizosphere of cotton (Gossýpium hirsútum) grown in saline soils of Uzbekistan. The cells of the isolated culture No. 12 were found to be rod-shaped, 2-3x0.5-0.6 urn in size, single or chain-linked, Gram-positive aerobic bacteria producing spores. In studying the culture No. 146, its cells were in the form of thick, less mobile rods, 1-2x0.6-0.8 urn in size, forming thermostable spores. The spores were located in the center of the cell; the Gram-stained colonies in meat-peptone agar were round, bulging; the edges were flat, consistency oily, smooth and, mucous; and, the upper part was found to be shiny. Studies have shown that the isolates appertained to the genus Bacillus sr.

Intra-Plant Variability for Heat Tolerance Related Attributes in Upland Cotton

Abiotic stress, particularly heat stress, affects various parts of the cotton plant and ultimately impacts the seed cotton yield. Different portions of a single cotton plant of a cultivar exhibit variable responses to stress during reproductive and vegetative phases. To test this hypothesis, physiological and morphological traits related to heat stress were observed for two flowering positions in 13 genotypes of upland cotton. These genotypes were sown in field conditions in triplicate following a randomized complete block design. Data were collected for pollen germination, pollen viability, cell membrane thermostability, chlorophyll content, boll weight, and boll retention for both the top and bottom branches of each genotype. The collected data were analyzed for the identification of variability within and between genotypes for these two flowering positions. Tukey’s test was applied to estimate the significance of differences between genotypes and positions within each genotype. Results showed that the two positions within the same plant statistically varied from each other. The bottom branches of the genotypes performed significantly better for all traits measured except boll weight. The genotype AA-933 performed best for pollen germination and boll retention, while CYTO-608 exhibited maximum pollen viability in both the bottom and top flower positions compared with other genotypes. Overall, MNH-1016 and CIM-602 showed better cell membrane thermostability and chlorophyll content, respectively. This intra-plant variability can be further exploited in breeding programs to enhance the stress tolerance capabilities of the resulting varieties.

GhD14 Regulates Plant Architecture and Fiber Development in Cotton

Background: Strigolactone (SL) signaling is essential in regulating plant development. DWARF14 (D14), the SL receptor, interacts with the F-box in MORE AXILLARY GROWTH (MAX2) to modulate SL signaling. However, the biological function of D14 protein is still unknown in cotton.Results: Here, we identified GhD14s in Gossypium hirsutum and resolved its function in cotton plant architecture and fiber development. Subcellular location results revealed that the GhD14D protein was localized to both the cytoplasm and nucleus. GUS staining assay showed that GhD14D was mainly expressed in leaf primordium, inflorescence, axillary bud and stem and expression analysis revealed that GhD14A/D was highly expressed in stem, flower and fiber cells at 20 days post-anthesis (DPA). Silencing GhD14A/D gene expression in upland cotton significantly increased branch angle. Meanwhile, the fiber length and the transcripts of secondary cell wall biosynthesis related genes were also reduced after GhD14A/D gene silencing. In addition, overexpression of GhD14D in Atd14 mutant successfully rescued the phenotype of the d14 mutant with much shoot-branching and short plant height.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the GhD14 gene contributes to shoot branch development and fiber cell development in cotton. This study deepens our understanding of the biological role of SL signaling in cotton and providing guidance for modifying cotton plant architecture and improving fiber development using genetic engineering to help us breed better cotton varieties in the future.