Evaluation of cotton germplasm in the Northeast of Brazil

Abstract

This paper presents a study of the behavior of advanced Upland-type strains of herbaceus cotton (Gossyplum hirsutum L.r. latifolium Hutch.) developed by the Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Algodão (CNPA) of EMBRAPA and by other Brazilian research institutions. The following traits were evaluated: seed-cotton yield, boll weight, 100 seed weight, lint percentage, fiber length, fiber uniformity, and fiber strenght. Data were collected from the Regional Variety Trials which were set up in randomized blocks design with nine treatments and eight replications. They were conducted in eight different locations within the Northeast of Brazil during theyear 1981. The new strains evolved by CNPA showed a good yield performance since they yielded from 1,005 to 1.634 kg/ha. With respect to the other characters under study, it has been observed that there were strains processing the quality standards required by the nacional textil industry. Variety BR1 had the highest average yield production (1,166 kg/ha) closely followed by CNPA 77-150 (1,157 kg/ha) and Paraná 1 (1,130 kg/ha). For boll weight and lint per cent the best genotypes were respectively IAC 17 and CNPA-SME₄ for the former and IAC 17 and Paraná 1 for the later.