Cotton (Gossypium spp. L.) is a major origin of natural fiber, and is projected at 117 million bales worldwide for 2021/22. A variety of biotic and abiotic stresses have considerable negative impacts on cotton. The significantly decreased applications of chemical insecticidal sprays in the agro-ecosystem have greatly affected the biodiversity and dynamics of primary and secondary insects. Various control measures were taken around the globe to increase production costs. Temperature, drought, and salinity, and biotic stresses such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, nematodes, insects, and mites cause substantial losses to cotton crops. Here, we summarize a number of biotic and abiotic stresses upsetting Bt cotton crop with present and future biotechnology solution strategies that include a refuge strategy, multi-gene pyramiding, the release of sterile insects, seed mixing, RNAi, CRISPR/Cas9, biotic signaling, and the use of bioagents. Surveillance of insect resistance, monitoring of grower compliance, and implementation of remedial actions can lead to the sustainable use of cotton across the globe.

Phytocyanins (PCs) are a class of plant-specific blue copper proteins that have been demonstrated to play a role in electron transport and plant development. Through analysis of the copper ligand residues, spectroscopic properties, and domain architecture of the protein, PCs have been grouped into four subfamilies: uclacyanins (UCs), stellacyanins (SCs), plantacyanins (PLCs), and early nodulin-like proteins (ENODLs). The present study aimed to identify and characterise the PCs present in three distinct cotton species (Gossypium hirsutum, Gossyium arboreum, and Gossypium raimondii) through the identification of 98, 63, and 69 genes respectively. We grouped PCs into four clades by using bioinformatics analysis and sequence alignment, which exhibit variations in gene structure and motif distribution. PCs are distributed across all chromosomes in each of the three species, with varying numbers of exons per gene and multiple conserved motifs, and with a minimum of 1 and maximum of 11 exons found on one gene. Transcriptomic data and qRT-PCR analysis revealed that two highly differentiated PC genes were expressed at the fibre initiation stage, while three highly differentiated PCs were expressed at the fibre elongation stage. These findings serve as a foundation for further investigations aimed at understanding the contribution of this gene family in cotton fibre production.

Agriculture has consistently improved to meet the needs of a growing global population; however, traditional monoculture farming, while highly productive, is facing challenges such as weed infestation and inefficient resource utilization. Herbicides effectively control weeds. However, their widespread use in weed management has the potential to contaminate soil and water, endangering the ecosystem by damaging non-target plant and animal species. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of different maize and soybean cropping systems on weed infestation and resource utilization. The experiment was a randomized complete block design with three replications consisting of three cropping systems: sole maize (SM), sole soybean (SS), and maize–soybean strip intercropping (MSI). In this study, the main difference between SM, SS, and MSI was the planting density, which was 60,000 (SM), 100,000 (SS), and 160,000 (maize–soybean in MSI). We observed that a higher total leaf area index in MSI resulted in increased soil cover, which reduced the solar radiations for weeds and suppressed the weed growth by 17% and 11% as compared to SS and SM, respectively. Whereas the radiation use efficiency for companion crops in MSI was increased by 39% and 42% compared to SS and SM, respectively. Moreover, the increased soil cover by total leaf area index in MSI also increased the efficiency of water use. Furthermore, our results indicated that reduced weed-crop competition increased the resource use in MSI, which resulted in increased crop yield and land equivalent ratio (LER 1.6). Eventually, this resulted in reduced inputs and increased land productivity. Therefore, we suggest that MSI should be adopted in resource-limiting conditions with higher weed infestation as it can simultaneously promote ecological balance and improve agricultural output, thereby reducing the environmental effects of traditional cropping systems.

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) has a central position in agriculture, similarly it adds to Pakistan’s economy as trade profit. Most of the cotton growing areas of Pakistan are deficient in organic matter due to continuous mono-cropping. Concerning these issues, a one-year field research was conducted during Kharif season in 2021 to evaluate the effect of organic manure and foliar application of boron on morphological and economic characters of CKC-3 and Sindh-1 cultivars under semi-arid climate. Treatments included soil applied farmyard manure (FYM) and foliar application of boron (B): T₁ = Control (0 FYM + 0 B), T₂ = FYM @10 tons/ha¹, T₃ = 1% B, T₄ = 2% B, T₅ = FYM @10 tons/ha¹ + 1% B, T₆ = FYM@10 tons/ha¹ + 2% B. Our results suggested that the treatment of soil applied FYM and foliar applied B @ FYM 10 tons/ha¹ + 2% B significantly (P≤0.05) influence the morphological characters including, sympodial branches per plant, opened bolls per plant, seed cotton weight per plant (g), seed cotton yield (kg ha^-1), lint yield per plant (g), and GOT (%) of both Sindh-1 and CKC-3 cultivars of cotton. However, CKC-3 performed better than Sindh-1 cultivar in most of the growth and yield related parameters under different treatment regimes. Hence, the optimum FYM and B foliar application levels for economical cotton production was considered to be FYM @10 tons/ha¹ + 2% boron along with recommended dose of NPK fertilizers under semi-arid climate.