Development of Extra‐Long Staple Upland Cotton

Abstract

An objective of U.S. cotton breeding programs is to provide raw material that processes efficiently and produces better textile products without compromising yield. Annual domestic consumption dropped from 10.4 million bales in 1998 to 5.5 million bales in 2007. Exports increased from 4.3 to 16.2 million bales. Increased reliance on export markets will require the United States to compete more effectively in price and quality. The desired minimum upper half mean (UHM) fiber length in international markets is 28 mm, while the traditional U.S. minimum is 27 mm. To compete at this higher UHM length expectation, breeding programs should target minimums well above the international base. Extra‐long staple (ELS) upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) germplasm lines were developed by the Cotton Improvement Lab, Dep. of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, as part of an effort to create germplasm with combinations of improved fiber quality, especially UHM length and fiber bundle strength. These ELS upland lines exhibit high volume instrument UHM length >32.0 mm, and several strains exceed 34.8 mm, which is the minimum UHM length for pima (G. barbadense L.). These ELS strains range in agronomic performance from less than to equal to that of ‘Fiber Max 832’ (PI 603955). TAM 94L‐25 (PI 631440), or its full sib 94L‐2 (unreleased), is the common parent in these ELS strains and is proposed as the major contributor of favorable allelic combinations for this exceptional UHM length.

Correlations and path analysis among agronomic and technological traits of upland cotton

“…Changes in spinning technology, competition with synthetic fibers, and the globalization of cotton production and textile products increases the demand for higher fiber quality (Smith et al, 2008). To become competitive in the global market, currently dominated by Australia, whose fiber is of excellent quality, industries require greater strength for spinning and bundling, reduced short fiber content, and greater uniformity in length and mature fibers.…”

Selection of cotton genotypes for greater length of fibers

“…produces one of the most important textile fiber of the world, and offers various utility products with great relevance in the Brazilian and the world's economy (Carvalho et al 2015a, Menezes et al 2015, Morello et al 2015. However, changes in spinning technology, competition with synthetic fibers, and the globalization of cotton production and textile products increase the demand for higher quality fiber, making the length of fiber one of the main traits to be improved (Smith et al 2008, Carvalho et al 2016.…”

Genetic diversity among exotic cotton accessions as for qualitative and quantitative traits

“…Most of the cultivars Pima and Giza constituted a group, but among them, there are distances smaller than between ELS upland. PI 528727 and PI 528730 accessions, although they are related to extra-long length in the literature and having G. barbadense in their pedigree (Smith et al, 2008), both presented in this study a length of 30.3 mm. The access TAM 98D-99e is from G. hirsutum L. and was developed in a breeding program aiming at yield potential and fiber quality (Thaxton and Smith, 2005).…”

“…G. barbadense genotypes had length of fiber ranging from 33.2 to 38.5 mm (Table 2), with the exception of Giza 31 and Tanguis 1-80 5W-63. Fiber of genotypes Acala SJ2 and Acala SJ 5 had length 31.1 and 32.8 mm, respectively, two obsolete cultivars released in the 1970's (Smith and Cothren, 1999). These authors comment that in the formation of populations, for obtaining these materials there was introgression of G. barbadense genes.…”

“…According to Smith and Cothren (1999) most efforts to attain better fiber traits in upland cotton to reach the same elite quality of Pima have been through hybridization of G. hirsutum L. and G. barbadense L. but with little success. Therefore, it is important to know the main phenotypic traits of the main long and extra-long fiber materials and their genetic divergence before using them in breeding programs.…”