Using SNPs for transplanting of cotton seedlings to increase plant growth and yield

Straw nursery pots (SNPs), which utilize agricultural residues such as wheatstraw and corn stalks as raw materials, can be widely used in the transplantingof seedlings of crops, vegetables, flowers and trees. Plastic nursery pots (PNPs)and direct sowing (DS) were used as controls in evaluating the effects of SNPson plant growth, dry matter partitioning, yields and economic benefits oftransplanted cotton. SNPs significantly increased the rate of emergence,shortened the convalescent period by about 7 d and increased the transplantsurvival rate by 8.8% compared to PNPs. This led to significantly increased drymatter accumulation: that of reproductive parts for SNP seedlings were 1.5- and1.8-fold of that for PNPs and DS, respectively. The lint yield using SNPs was11.5 and 17.5% greater than for PNPs and DS, respectively. Boll number perplant with SNPs was 7.5 and 23.3% greater than for PNPs and DS, respectively;lint weight was not significantly different than with PNPs and was 5.8% greaterthan for DS. There were no significant differences in lint percentage among thethree systems. Further benefit analysis showed that net revenue per hectarefrom using SNPs in cotton production was US$108 and US$279 greater thanfor PNP and DS, respectively. This was mainly due to significantly increasedoutput, a reduced number of seedlings needed, nursery pot costs accounting fora relatively small proportion of total investment, and the relatively low laborcosts in China.