Characterization of an upland cotton foundation population for breeding at the Comarca Lagunera, northern Mexico

Abstract

In the Comarca Lagunera Northern Mexico, the cropping of upland cotton Gossypium hirsutum L. is carried out under such limiting factors as water shortage, inadequate water management, insufficient fertilization, inadequate pests and disease control and poor genetic expression of varieties now in use. To overcome these problems, a, basic population for breeding including 250 genotypes, was founded during 1991; the genotypes came from the F, segregating crosses, initiated by combining six commercial varieties in a diallel fashion. The genotypes were chosen from 105 plots, 20 plants each, selecting 2 to 3 plants per plot, qualifying for high yield, short fruitful branches, pine tree type plants, shorter leaves, red pigmentation and high quality of fiber. The characterization of the foundation population through measures of yield (coarse cotton based on grams per plant), fibrograph lecture for fiber length, stelometer press for fiber strength and micronaire indication for fiber fineness, showed a wide phenotypic variability for yield and the most important quality characteristics, underlying 74% of genotypes with short to medium uniform fiber. Those traits are commonly demanded by industry, 86% with resistance level from 86000 to 96000 lb in 2 which fulfilled the requirements of the textil industry and 69% of the total genotypes evaluated with a micronaire index ranged from 3.5 to 4.9 known as a premium quality.