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Title: EFFECTS OF BRANCH ZONE AND FRUITING POSITION ON THE LENGTH BY WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION

Author
item Foulk, Jonn
item Bauer, Philip
item SENTER, HERMAN - Clemson University

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/31/2010
Publication Date: 5/17/2010
Citation: Foulk, J.A., Bauer, P.J., Senter, H. 2010. EFFECTS OF BRANCH ZONE AND FRUITING POSITION ON THE LENGTH BY WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION. National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference. P. 1392-1404.

Interpretive Summary: AFIS cotton fiber length distributions have been evaluated by the Cotton Quality Research Station (CQRS) of the USDA-ARS. Two commercial cotton varieties [DPL 555 (mid-full maturity) and PM 1218 (early maturity)] were grown, harvested and hand-ginned in the South Atlantic region of the US. CQRS performed extensive AFIS measurements of the hand-ginned cotton properties. The goal was to evaluate the entire fiber length distribution so distributions were evaluated using Chi-square and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. The objective was to evaluate differences in the entire shape of hand-ginned (best inherent representation of fiber length) histograms between cotton plant zones, cotton boll position, and cotton variety via skewness, kurtosis, Chi-square, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests.

Technical Abstract: Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is grown by producers as a raw material input for textile mills. Cotton fiber qualities continue to improve through crop management, genetic, and ginning improvements. Competition from synthetic fibers, mill modernization, and global market competition have increased the demand for improved fiber quality, while changes in the textile industry and fiber measurement technology have resulted in a steady improvement in cotton fiber quality. The Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS) analyzes cotton fiber length distributions because variations in fiber length distribution impacts spinning performance. The goal was to evaluate the entire AFIS fiber length distribution so distributions were evaluated rather than mean values. Chi-square and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests were used to evaluate AFIS fiber length distributions among two cultivars [DPL555 (mid-full maturity) and PM1218 (early maturity)). Fiber properties were determined on first and second branch position bolls on reproductive branches in a 1-m section of row in each plot. The objective was to evaluate differences in the shape of histograms between cotton plant zones, cotton boll position, and cotton variety.