Second-Cycle Cotton Grown with High Plant Density in Mato Grosso, Brazil

摘要

A new cotton cultivation system is being implemented in the state of Mato Grosso (MT), the largest cotton producing state in Brazil. The system allows growing two crops during the rainy season. That is, an early soybean crop followed by a high-densitycotton crop. This dual-crop system has been adopted for many years in the northern part of the state, where rains extend for a longer period, using cotton spaced at 0.76m between rows. Extending the system to the entire state has been possible with theadoption of denser plant populations due to the additional earliness achieved and to the use of stripper harvesting. When grown at densities higher than 220,000 plants/ha, and row-to-row spacing of 0.45m, the cotton cycle becomes shorter than 150 days, as compared to the 180-220 days required under conventional cultivation, and allows a significant reduction in production costs. However, the adoption of higher cotton densities has forced dramatic changes in the entire production system, including selection of varieties, plant growth management, use of stripper pickers and seedcotton processing modifications. Research is underway to improve the management of such "denser" high-technology cotton and to evaluate the economic return of the new system under the various situations found throughout the state.