SELECTION OF NATIVE AND CONVENTIONAL COTTON (Gossypium hirsutum L.) GENOTYPES BASED ON FIBER QUALITY

Abstract

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is the main source of natural textile fibers in the world. Properties such as short fiber stickiness, trash content, color, fiber length, and fineness are fiber quality characteristics that determine pricing, profitability, and marketability. Therefore, the description and measurement of all its characters is indispensable to ensure high-quality cotton fiber production. The objective of this work was to evaluate, select, and characterize cotton germplasm (Gossypium spp.) with high fiber quality in a randomized complete block experimental design with three replications and 15 plants per replication for the generation of new conventional varieties, based on the hypothesis that genotypes with excellent fiber quality can compete with currently commercialized transgenic varieties. The evaluation was conducted in a greenhouse during the 2019 autumn-winter agricultural cycle at La Laguna Experimental Field of the National Institute of Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research (INIFAP-CELALA). Two harvests were carried out, where a random sample of 60 buds was taken from each genotype and the fiber was separated from the seed. A total of 150 g of fiber was taken from each sample and measured for length, strength, fineness, spinnability index, uniformity index, short fiber index, elongation, reflectance, and yellow +b content. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences between genotypes for all variables evaluated, mainly in fiber length, strength, and fineness. The results indicate that TOA-17, TOA-18, GOS-17, GOS-21, and FZ-13 CLON showed outstanding characters of similar quality to the commercial control (DeltaPine^®), making these genotypes suitable for the requirements of the textile industry.