African cotton cultivars produce consistent fiber quality. However, they are far from perfect as they are old, with fiber quality lagging compared to modern cotton cultivars produced in competing countries. This study compared cotton accessions collected across Burkina Faso belonging to the four cultivated species to cultivars from West African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Togo) plus Chad. The objectives were to quantify the fiber quality components within the collection and to identify accessions with the potential to enhance the fiber quality of African cultivars to address evolving markets and environments. In terms of lint percent, accession E32 (G. hirsutum) outperformed all cultivars by 2.5 to 4.6%. Accessions E25, E1, and E12 (all G. barbadense), and E53 (G. hirsutum) produced fibers 1.7 to 4.6 mm longer than the control cultivars, except for cultivar FK37. All G. hirsutum, G. barbadense, and G. herbaceum accessions had longer fibers than all control cultivars. Some G. hirsutum accessions with perennial tendency, averged 3.5 to 5.5% greater elongation. For fiber strength, all G. barbadense accessions appeared better than comparision cultivars and E13, E38 (G. arboreum), and E43 (G. herbaceum) produced fibers with bundle strength values from 7.3 to 10.2 kN m Kg-1 greater than any comparision cultivar. Further enhancement of certain African cotton fiber properties could be possible through a research-based breeding program to identify and use current variability found in Africian accessions as well as other accessions.
