ABSTRACT

The Cotton Management program (COTMAN) is a crop monitoring system which records changes in the fruiting dynamics of the plant as well as certain plant growth parameters, and is aimed at characterizing plant development. The central aspect of the COTMAN program is the recording and interpreting of the growth and development patterns compared to a standard target curve. Understanding this development pattern and identifying differences from normal allow detection of stress and poor management, allowing time to remedy the situation. COTMAN has two major components, SQUARE MAN and BOLLMAN. The first component, SQUAREMAN follows the pace of squaring node development, and also includes square shedding and plant growth measurements in the reports that help identify stress and suggest solutions. BOLLMAN follows the squaring nodes (nodes-above white flower) after flowering and is aimed at improving end-of-season decisions related to insecticide termination, defoliation and harvest date. Overall, research on COTMAN and field testing over the past fifteen years has shown that COTMAN is a sensitive and reliable crop monitoring program, which when used properly with suitable attention to the fundamentals of the program, can improve crop management efficiency and reduce input costs.