ARS | Publication request: Relationship of ginning energy use ginning rate and fiber quality in upland cotton

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 27, 2010
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Cotton genotypes that gin faster and with less energy presumably gin more gently with less stress on the fiber and less damage. The objective of this research was to determine if ginning energy and ginning rate affect the fiber qualities of Upland cotton genotypes. Thirty four conventional and twelve transgenic genotypes were evaluated in 2008 and 2009 for ginning energy requirements, ginning rate and the association of these traits with fiber quality as determined by High Volume Instrument (HVI) and Advanced Fiber Information (AFIS) evaluations. The experiment was conducted at two sites near Stoneville, MS for both 2008 and 2009. Field plots were one row 12.2 m in length and 1.0 m between rows. Ginning energy was measured with a power meter attached to a 10-saw laboratory gin stand. Fiber properties were measured at STARLAB INC., Knoxville, TN, using HVI and at Stoneville Research Unit using AFIS analyses. Statistical analyses were performed using Proc GLM of the SAS system. Mean square values indicated that genotypic variances were high and significant for net energy, fiber strength and length, nep size and nep count, short fiber content and fineness. This is encouraging because this indicates that effective selections for these traits can be made in fewer environments. Genotypes that ginned faster and required less net energy to gin had, in general, lower nep size, nep count, and short fiber content when compared to genotypes that required higher net energy and ginned slower. Fast ginners, as a group, had higher fiber strength and fiber length than slow ginners. Further study with larger sample size is currently being conducted.