Cotton in Vidarbha: what to check, and when, from sowing to picking

When should cotton be sown?

ICAR-CICR's first weekly advisory of 2026 told Akola farmers to start sowing only after 75 to 100 mm of rain. Avoid pre-season sowing: such a crop is more exposed to pink bollworm (ICAR-CICR, 2024-25).

With the late monsoon of 2026, sowing at Akola was still going on from 9 to 15 July (ICAR-CICR). Do not keep the crop beyond 180 days, and in central India end it by December or mid-January (ICAR-CICR, 2024-25 and 2019).

Crop stages: what Akola saw in 2026

ICAR-CICR's weekly advisories put the late-sown Akola crop at squaring and flowering at 57 to 62 days, at flowering and boll development at 78 to 83 days, and still at boll development, not yet bursting, at 99 to 104 days on 8 to 14 October. Count your own field's stage from its sowing date.

Pink bollworm: when and how to check

Start monitoring moths with pheromone traps about 45 days after sowing. At squaring and flowering, look for larvae inside flowers: the rosette flower, a flower that stays closed like a rose bud, is the sign (ICAR-CICR, 2024-25).

From boll formation, pick and open 20 green bolls per acre from different plants. Larvae (white or pink) or exit holes in at least 2 of the 20 bolls mean damage has started. The economic threshold is more than 8 moths per trap per night for 3 nights in a row, or more than 10 per cent of flowers or green bolls with live larvae (ICAR-CICR, 2024-25). The 2019 strategy adds traps from August and weekly boll checks from mid-September to December.

In 2026 pink bollworm, and spotted bollworm on non-Bt cotton, were seen in some Akola fields (ICAR-CICR, September 2026). Ask your KVK before any spray.

Sucking pests

Walk the field every week for thrips, aphids, jassids and spider mites, alongside the bollworms. For Akola, ICAR-CICR advises observing 20 plants per acre as a sample of the field. In 2026, heavy whitefly and thrips were seen in most fields at 85 to 90 days (ICAR-CICR, September 2026).

Rain and dry spells

A long dry spell and moisture stress brought severe Fusarium wilt and dry root rot to pockets of Buldana and Akola districts in 2026, and by October 60 days of stress had stunted the crop (ICAR-CICR). For Akola, ICAR-CICR names flowering and boll development as the stages to protect from moisture stress.

After heavy rain, drain excess water from the field; para wilt symptoms were seen at Akola in August 2026 (ICAR-CICR). Cloudy weather, high humidity and drizzle during squaring, flowering and boll development raise the risk of leaf spots and boll rot (ICAR-CICR, 2024-25).

Picking, and what the satellite can show

Pick clean and infested cotton separately (ICAR-CICR, 2024-25). ICAR-CICR's north-zone advice is to pick cotton dry, free of trash and with no dew on it.

The satellite shows where and when greenness fell, for example a strip turning pale in a dry spell. It does not identify bollworms or sucking pests. Kharif is the monsoon season, when cloud is a major problem for optical satellites (National Crop Forecast Centre, 2019): over one field near Katol, only 2 of 23 passes from July to September 2026 gave a clear view.