Key Technical Points for Diversified Multi-Cropping Three-Dimensional Cultivation of Cotton in the Huaibei Region

Diversified multi-cropping three-dimensional cultivation is a high-yield, high-efficiency agricultural production form and supporting comprehensive technical system that conforms to biological population structure. Developing diversified multi-cropping three-dimensional cultivation can achieve good economic, social and ecological benefits.

I. Mechanisms for developing diversified multi-cropping three-dimensional cultivation of cotton in the Huaibei Region

1. Adapt to local conditions and emphasize efficiency. Three-dimensional cotton cultivation involves multiple crops, multiple factors and multiple disciplines, and is highly time-sensitive, regional, comprehensive and scientific. Therefore, appropriate timing and varieties should be selected for cultivation in combination with the land, climate and other conditions of the Huaibei Region.

2. Optimize configuration and improve light energy utilization. Diversified multi-cropping three-dimensional cotton cultivation can form a composite population by configuring tall and short crops, gramineous and leguminous crops, narrow-leaf and broad-leaf crops, shade-loving and shade-tolerant crops, thereby increasing the photosynthetic area per unit area of land and improving photosynthetic efficiency.

3. Use the growing season and improve land utilization. Through diversified multi-cropping intercropping and relay intercropping of cotton, the total number of crop growing days is reduced, enabling different crops to advance through their growth periods together during the symbiotic period. Overlapping and alternating cultivation avoids the time consumed by a single cropping system from sowing to harvest. Different crops and different varieties are rationally matched, maximizing strengths and avoiding weaknesses, and giving play to their respective advantages, thereby achieving mutual benefit and complementarity.

II. Crop rotation arrangement. After the crops vacate the land, from late September to mid-October, plow and turn the soil, apply sufficient basal fertilizer, and form beds with a soil-holding bed surface width of 310 cm. In late October, sow @#@245@#@ in the middle 70 cm, and transplant 4 rows of green vegetables on each side, with a row spacing of 25 cm x 20 cm and 12,900 plants per hectare, vacating the land around the Spring Festival. Potato tubers are sprouted from late January under insulation and moisture retention; in mid-February, after the green vegetables are harvested, fertilize and prepare the land, form a ridge on each side (ridge bottom width 80 cm, ridge surface width 60 cm), sow with plastic film mulch, with a row spacing of 90 cm x 20 cm and 64,500 plants per hectare; harvest and vacate the land from mid-May to late May. Cotton is raised as seedlings in nutrient pots in early April, and after the potatoes are harvested in late May, it is transplanted across the full width with wide rows of 100 cm, narrow rows of 55 cm, and plant spacing of 30-35 cm.

III. Main cultivation techniques

1. Green vegetables: For overwintering green vegetables, select high-quality, high-yield, cold-tolerant short-stemmed varieties. Use 2,250 g of seed per hectare of field, sow and raise seedlings in late September, and transplant in late October. During the growing period, pay attention to fertilizer and water management, insist on light and frequent irrigation, and after the plants revive, apply 1 application of dilute manure water to promote seedling growth; before and after cold waves arrive, irrigate with anti-freezing water, then apply 1 heavy fertilizer application, using 22,500 kg of decomposed manure per hectare diluted with water for irrigation, and harvest around the Spring Festival.

2. Potato: For potato, select early-maturing virus-free varieties. One month before sowing, select disease-free, uninjured seed potatoes with smooth skin, bright color, regular shape and uniform eyes, cut them lengthwise into seed pieces of about 25 g for sprouting and sowing. Before sowing, apply 37,500 kg of organic fertilizer and 750 kg of 25% compound fertilizer per hectare. After sowing, spray for chemical weed control (1,000-fold 50% acetochlor solution) and cover with plastic film. After emergence, promptly break the film and topdress with a small amount of dilute manure water. When the seedlings are more than 10 cm tall, apply manure fertilizer again, combined with hilling, to promote strong seedlings and plants. If drought occurs during tuber bulking, irrigate frequently to maintain moisture. At the full bud stage and early flowering stage, spray 1-2 times with 50 mg/kg paclobutrazol according to seedling condition, reasonably regulate the plants, accelerate the translocation of photosynthetic products to underground parts, and harvest promptly for market in mid-to-late May.

3. Cotton: Raise seedlings in nutrient pots in early April, and transplant the pots for temporary planting in early-to-mid May. When transplanting, dig deep holes according to the predetermined plant and row spacing, water thoroughly after planting, firm the soil, improve transplanting quality, shorten the seedling recovery period, fertilize rationally, apply sufficient basal fertilizer, and lightly apply seedling fertilizer. Apply more bud fertilizer, heavily apply flowering and boll fertilizer, and generally apply topping fertilizer.