Emphasis on making the American cotton industry more competitive with synthetics and imported cotton has redirected our attention toward improving fiber quality. In order to improve fiber quality we need to know the sources of variability contributing to fiber quality. Cotton production in the USA has been stratified into six growing regions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of major cotton growing areas (regions) on fiber quality.

There are two questions related to this study: (1) "Are there real differences in fiber quality associated with various cotton growing areas?" and (2) "If there are differences, are they attributable to environmental or genetic factors?"