Determination the effect of zinc application on cotton yield,fiber quality traits and plant development

This study was carried out to determine the effect of different zinc application methods on cotton yield, fiber quality traits, plant development and plant nutrition uptake. The study was conducted at Siirt University Faculty of Agriculture Department of Field Crops experimental area as randomized complete block design with four replications in 2016. Stoneville 468 cotton variety and liquid zinc fertilizer were used as material. Seven different zinc applications were performed as (Control, To Soil 200 g/da, To Soil 400 g/da, Soil + Leaves at Pre-Squaring Stage, Pre-Squaring Stage + Initial Flowering Stage to Leaves, Pre-Squaring Stage + Pre Flowering Stage + Flowering Stage to leaves, Pre-Flowering Stage + Flowering Stage to leaves). The results of variance analysis showed that seed cotton yield, first picking percentage and ginning percentage affected from different zinc applications methods. On the other hand, date of first open boll, plant height, number of monopodial branches, number of sympodial branches, number of bolls, node number of the first fruiting branch, number of nodes, height/node rates, boll weight, 100 seeds weight were not affected from different zinc applications. According to the results of leaf analysis it was determined that there were non-significant differences in terms of N, K, Ca, Na, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu content, but soil analysis showed that N, K, Ca, Na, Mg and Cu content affected from treatments, however, P, Fe, Zn, Mn not affected from zinc treatments. The zinc application methods not affected some fiber quality parameters such as fiber fineness, fiber length, fiber strength, yellowness and reflectance, but it affected fiber elongation, uniformity, short fiber index and spinning consistency index. Two times application of zinc to leaves at pre-squaring period + pre-flowering periods and to soil + pre-squaring periods to leaves significantly affected most of investigated characteristics. Keywords: Cotton, Zinc, Yield, Plant Development, Plant Nutrition, Fiber Quality