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LOGO: Journal of Cotton Science

 

Quantifying Genotypic and Environmental Contributions to Yield and Fiber Quality in Georgia: Data from Seven Commercial Cultivars and 33 Yield Environments

Authors: John L Snider, Guy D. Collins, Jared Whitaker, and Jerry W. Davis
Pages: 285-292
Breeding and Genetics

Although genotypic and environmental contributions to yield and fiber quality have been studied extensively in cotton for decades, the near-constant release of commercially available genotypes necessitates re-evaluation for specific cotton production regions. Consequently, lint yield, lint percent, fiber length, fiber strength, fiber micronaire, and uniformity index were evaluated for seven commercially available cotton cultivars across 33 yield environments in on-farm trials throughout Georgia. The following were quantified: the percentage of variability in each response variable accounted for by genotype and environment, trait stability for each cultivar across all yield environments, and genotypic and environmental correlations between all parameters of interest. Environment was the dominant factor governing lint yield (96.1% environment, 1.2% genotype), fiber length (80.6% environment, 5.1% genotype), strength (47% environment, 27.7% genotype), micronaire (63.8% environment, 9.9% genotype), and uniformity (69.8% environment, 6.5% genotype). In contrast, lint percentage was impacted more by genotype (51.5%) than by environment (38.8%). 'PHY 565 WRF' was identified as the most stable cultivar across all yield environments for all agronomic and fiber quality traits examined. Environmental correlations showed that fiber length, strength, and uniformity were all positively correlated with yield. These findings suggest that any improvements in the yield environment brought about through improved production practices or favorable environmental conditions will be conducive to improving fiber quality in cotton.