Objectives: To improve cotton germplasm with potential heat stress tolerance, better fiber quality, lint yield and pest resistance, broadening the genetic base of cotton.
Justification and Problem Statement
Over the last 3 5 years, the cotton germplasm base used in plant breeding has narrowed. This relatively narrow genetic diversity has been suggested as a contributor to an apparent plateau in breeding progress. It may also represent an impediment to efforts to sustain high yields (May and Taylor, 1998; Meredith, 1992; Ulloa, 2006). Since the re-establishment of a cotton breeding effort within the USDA-ARS, Western Integrated Cropping Systems Research Unit, we have focused on increasing genetic diversity through acquisition of novel germplasm (from multiple sources including non-commercial land races and species of wild cottons)…
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Summary:
Cotton is routinely grown in the hot, irrigated areas of the far Western U.S., and these extended periods of high temperature can reduce cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L. and G. barbadense) lint yield, even with adequate irrigation conditions. Extended periods of extremely high temperatures are common in these areas during the critical stage of peak flowering. When temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley reach temperatures above normal during the critical stage of peak flowering, California growers suffer the consequences of reduced yield by these cotton varieties weaknesses to heat. The number of cotton commercial varieties for California with heat tolerance is not really known. However, it is known that Acala varieties Maxxa and Phytogen 72 yield poorly in the heat stress environment of…
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