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Deltapine Bollgard and Roundup-Ready Cotton Varietal Response in Israel

J. Spense, G. Forer, A. Nir, B. Rubin, H.Yasour, A. Levi and M. Sibony


 
ABSTRACT

Israel is a small and intensified cotton producer. With an annual 30,000 hectares, production is highly mechanized and fully irrigated during a long dry summer season, very similar to that of California. Upland cotton is of Acala types and comprises about 80% of the cotton land. Pima is cultivated on the remaining 20% of land allocated to cotton. Cotton farming is a staple on the Israel field crop scene comprising 30% of the total irrigated farmland allocated to field crops.

Yield development has been on the rise consistently since the re-introduction of cotton in the early 1950's. An increase in upland lint yield of 23.3Kg/Ha per annum and a correlation factor of R2 = 0.89 link yield increase with technological development over the years. Introduction of new technology (drip irrigation) has been a factor. A major switch to crop rotation since the early 1990's also had positive impact. However, introduction of new varieties and developments in pest control probably had the most impact on the development of lint yield and profitability of cotton in Israel during the past decade. Benefits from new biotechnology varieties from Monsanto and D&PL have the potential to provide: higher yields, a shorter growing season, Bt biotech insect control advantages, RR biotech weed control advantages, and higher profitability. These varieties thus provide a combination of agronomic and entomological traits that have proven so fruitful in the past. Objectives of the present effort are to import D&PL transgenic varieties to Israel for testing, evaluate agronomic and entomological compatibility with the view of increasing cotton sustainability and profitability.



Reprinted from Proceedings of the 1999 Beltwide Cotton Conferences pp. 465 - 466
©National Cotton Council, Memphis TN

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Document last modified Monday, Jun 21 1999