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Common field planting patterns for intercropping cotton with potatoes

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The cotton-potato intercropping pattern is widely used in northern Jiangsu; the two crops have a short symbiotic period, little mutual influence during that period, and a complementary effect in fertilizer use. The ample fertilizer and water in the field during the late growth stage of potatoes favor cotton seedling development, allowing a double high yield of both cotton and potatoes. Generally, potatoes yield 2000-2500 kg per mu and cotton yields 80-100 kg per mu, with an output value of 2500-3000 yuan per mu and a net income of 1500-2000 yuan. The bed is generally about 3 m wide, and cotton is planted in wide and narrow rows, with wide rows 150 cm apart and narrow rows

The cotton-potato intercropping pattern is widely used in northern Jiangsu; the two crops have a short symbiotic period, little mutual influence during that period, and a complementary effect in fertilizer use. The ample fertilizer and water in the field during the late growth stage of potatoes favor cotton seedling development, allowing a double high yield of both cotton and potatoes. Generally, potatoes yield 2000-2500 kg per mu and cotton yields 80-100 kg per mu, with an output value of 2500-3000 yuan per mu and a net income of 1500-2000 yuan.

The bed is generally about 3 m wide, and cotton is planted in wide and narrow rows, with wide rows 150 cm apart and narrow rows 40 cm apart, with 4 rows of cotton per bed. Potatoes are generally planted in early February in the wide rows of cotton, with a row spacing of 75 cm; 2 rows of potatoes are planted within the wide rows, with a plant spacing of 15-20 cm, at 3500-4000 plants per mu, covered with plastic film to increase temperature and retain moisture, promoting early growth and higher yield. Cotton is raised as seedlings and transplanted, planted on both sides, at 1800-2000 plants per mu.

Select improved varieties. For potatoes, choose high-yield, high-quality, early-maturing virus-free seed potatoes, such as Kexin No. 1, Holland 15, etc.; for cotton, choose new hybrid cotton varieties with strong growth vigor, strong individual yield formation capacity, and suitability for sparse planting, such as Suza No. 3, Kemian No. 3, Nannong No. 6, Sikang No. 3, etc.

Sow and harvest at the right time. Potatoes are sown in early February, harvested promptly from early May to early June, and cleared from the field in early June; cotton is sown around April 10 and transplanted in mid-May.

Scientific fertilization. Potatoes require sufficient basal fertilizer; before sowing, apply 2000-2500 kg of high-quality farmyard manure, 15 kg of urea, and 10 kg of potassium chloride per mu in the wide rows of cotton; after harvest, promptly plow in the stems and leaves. Because the field has ample nutrients during the potato growing period, and its stems and leaves plowed into the field can serve as basal fertilizer, fertilization during the cotton growth period should be appropriately adjusted; generally no fertilizer is applied in the early stage, and excessive growth should also be controlled. The flowering and boll-setting fertilizer should be applied heavily to ensure the nutrient requirements during the boll-setting period. In the later stage, if growth is weak, a top-dressing fertilizer should be applied.

Strengthen management. When potato seedlings emerge in early to mid-March, promptly break the film to release the seedlings; during the tuber bulking stage, water more to keep the soil loose and the moisture suitable. Because potatoes are a host of the second-generation tarnished plant bug, special attention should be paid to controlling tarnished plant bugs in the cotton field after harvest.

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