Effect of Mechanical Stress on Cotton Growth and Development

Agricultural crops experience diverse mechanical stimuli, which may affect their growth and development. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of mechanical stresses caused by hanging labels from the flower petioles (HLFP) on plant shape and cotton yields in four cotton varieties: CCRI 41, DP 99B, CCRC 21, and BAI 1. HLFP significantly reduced plant height by between 7.8% and 36.5% in all four lines and also significantly reduced the number of fruiting positions per plant in the CCRI 41, DP 99B and CCRC 21 lines. However, the number of fruiting positions in BAI 1 was unaffected. HLFP also significantly reduced the boll weight for all four cultivars and the seed cotton yields for CCRI 41, DP 99B and BAI 1. Conversely, it significantly increased the seed cotton yield for CCRC 21 by 11.2%. HLFP treatment did not significantly affect the boll count in the fruiting branches of the 1(st) and 2(nd) layers in any variety, but did significantly reduce those on the 3(rd) and 4(th) fruiting branch layers for CCRI 41 and DP 99B. Similar trends were observed for the number of bolls per FP. In general, HLFP reduced plant height and boll weight. However, the lines responded differently to HLFP treatment in terms of their total numbers of fruiting positions, boll numbers, seed cotton yields, etc. Our results also suggested that HFLP responses might be delayed for some agronomy traits of some cotton genotypes, and that hanging labels from early-opening flowers might influence the properties related with those that opened later on.