Plant Growth Retardants, Plant Nutrients, and Cotton Production

Soil fertility and crop management are the two most important factors of modern agricultural activity. Managing the balance of vegetative and reproductive growth is the essence of managing a cotton crop. It is well known from numerous fertilizer experiments that the yield of agricultural crops has been strongly dependent on the supply of mineral nutrients, which have been used in crop cultivation to exploit the full genetic potential of the plant. Supplying optimal quantities of mineral nutrients to growing crop plants is one way to improve crop yields. In recent years, several approaches have been tried to break this yield plateau, and among them is application of plant growth regulators (PGRs). In maximizing the quantity and quality of a crop it is necessary to identify the constraints that may affect it and to devise methods of overcoming them through the use of inputs or changes in management practices.