The effect of cattle manure on Cotton wilt disease (Verticillium dahliae Kleb.) and fiber technological properties

This study was carried out to determine the effects of different cattle manure application on cotton wilt disease and fiber properties. The experiments were performed in the experimental plots contaminated with fungi Verticillium dahlia at farmer’s field during 2013 and 2014 in Bismil district of Diyarbak？r. The field trials were designed according to the split plots under the randomized blocks with three replications. The main plots were cattle manure doses (2, 4 and 6 tons/da) and sub-parcels formed cotton varieties. GW Tex and Stoneville 468 cotton varieties were used as the material that one was tolerant and the other moderately tolerant to the Verticillium wilt disease, respectively. The soil samples were taken from the experimental area before and after applying manures for determining of inoculum intensity of pathogen. Disease severities were determined by using foliar and vascular disease index. In addition, 40 bolls were collected from each parcel for fiber analysis. After the ginning in the Rollergin machine, some fiber quality properties were investigated. In the experimental area, 75 microsclerotia (ms) were detected in one gram of soil in 2013. In the second year, except 2 and 4 tons/da cattle manure applications, there was an increase in the density of ms on the other parcels. The difference between disease severity, fertilizer applications, cotton varieties and years was found to be significant according to the average results of two years. The lowest disease index was found to be 2 ton/da (1.48) in the green component evaluation and 4 ton/da (1.58) in the stem section of the plant. According to the average results of two years, the disease severity of GW Teks was lower than that of Stoneville 468. Fiber length, fiber fineness, fiber uniformity, fiber strength, short fiber ratio, and fiber elongation values were found to be no different from cattle manure applications. However, fiber length, fiber fineness, and fiber uniformity values varied according to years and cotton varieties. The results of this study indicated that the application of cattle manure was suppressing Verticillium wilt according to farmer application and control