Molecular Soil Biology 2025, Vol.16, No.3, 114-125 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/msb 117 laying the foundation for flowering and seeding (Chen et al., 2017). 4.4 Weed and pest control: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies If you want to achieve stable and high cotton yields, pests and weeds must be managed well. Integrated management strategies (IPM) are quite effective. For example, planting less densely, rotating crops properly, and managing fertilizers and water scientifically can enhance cotton resistance and reduce the occurrence of pests and diseases (Yang et al., 2017). Laying mulch or covering with wheat straw or cotton stalks can also suppress the growth of weeds and improve the microclimate in the field, which helps cotton grow better and increases economic benefits (Iqbal et al., 2024). 5 Oil Content Determination and Influencing Factors 5.1 Analytical methods (e.g., Soxhlet extraction, NIR spectroscopy) If you want to measure the oil content in cottonseed, Soxhlet extraction is generally used. This method uses organic solvents to extract oil, which is more accurate and the results are stable, so many studies use it as a standard method (Malalha et al., 2023). In addition to it, some people now use near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) to measure oil. This method is fast and does not destroy the sample, which is very suitable for large-scale screening. However, from the current literature, Soxhlet extraction is still the most commonly used. 5.2 Influence of genotype, environment, and cultivation method The amount of oil in cottonseed depends not only on the variety, but also on where and how it is planted. Studies have found that both variety (genotype) and environment have a great influence on oil accumulation, and the effects are almost the same (Gōng et al., 2022; Malalha et al., 2023). Different cotton varieties have different oil content and fatty acid ratios (Ju, 2015; Amer et al., 2020; Eldessouky et al., 2021). Some varieties are naturally high in oil, which has a lot to do with their genes. For example, some studies have found that the heritability of oil content is very high (H² can reach 96.6%), and key genes such as GhDGAT1 and Gh_A03G0701 have been found, which are involved in the synthesis and regulation of oil (Zhao et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2020; Zhu et al., 2020; Wu et al., 2021). The environment is also very important. The climate and geographical location of a region will affect the variation of cottonseed oil content, which can explain about 38% of the difference. If the daily average rainfall is high, the oil content will increase; but if the total rainfall is too high, the oil will easily decrease (Gōng et al., 2022) (Figure 1). The way of planting also has an impact. Things like the sowing time and how to manage the field can affect the amount and stability of oil (Awais et al., 2021; Malalha et al., 2023). Moreover, if the variety and environment are properly matched, the oil content of cottonseed can be stable and high (Gōng et al., 2022; Malalha et al., 2023). 5.3 Harvest timing and post-harvest handling impact on oil quality When cotton is harvested and how it is handled after harvesting also has a great impact on the quality of the oil. Studies have found that in the late stage of cottonseed development, such as around the 25th day, some oil-related genes will begin to express in large quantities. At this time, the harvest will have more oil and better fatty acid composition (Zhu et al., 2020). If harvested too early or too late, both oil content and yield may be affected. Therefore, arranging the harvest time is a key point to increase oil content (Awais et al., 2021). How to handle cottonseed after harvest is also very important. Steps such as drying and storage will affect the stability and quality of oil. However, most of the current research is still focused on varieties and environment, and not much is known about the specific impacts of post-harvest processing. 6 Economic Analysis 6.1 Input costs (seed, fertilizer, water, pest control) The money spent on growing oil cotton is mainly used in several aspects: good seeds, fertilizers, water, and pest control. High-yield cotton varieties consume fertilizers more, for example, they absorb about 384 kg of nitrogen and potassium, 83 kg of phosphorus per hectare, and consume about 10.7 trillion liters of water (Constable and Bange, 2015). Therefore, the input of fertilizer and watering is the key. To save money, you can try underground drip irrigation with reasonable fertilization, such as irrigating with 80% of the crop's water requirement, and spraying foliar fertilizer. This approach not only saves water and fertilizer, but also increases yield and quality
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