ARS | Publication request: Analyzing the components of hybrid cotton yield and its relationship with environment

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: February 3, 2012
Publication Date: February 10, 2012
Citation: Tyagi, P., Kuraparthy, V., Bowman, D., Edmiston, K., Bourland, F.M., Campbell, B.T., Fraser, D., Wallace, T.P. 2012. Analyzing the components of hybrid cotton yield and its relationship with environment [abstract]. In Proceedings of the National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference, January 3-6, 2012, Orlando, Florida. p. 752.

Technical Abstract: Cotton hybrids show a commercially useful level of heterosis for lint yield. In poor yielding environments percent heterosis for lint yield is higher than in high yielding environments. Lint yield is a product of several yield components of which boll number has been reported to contribute the most to lint yield. Boll number is a product of the number of fruiting sites and boll retention. We studied two cotton hybrids to understand whether hybrids retain more fruits or initiated more fruiting sites to attain this level of heterosis in poor yielding environments. The two hybrids Deltapine 51 x Stoneville 474, Stoneville 474 x LA 887 and their parental lines were tested at 8 locations representing both high yielding and poor yielding environments. Data were collected for lint yield and yield components. Hybrids had higher lint yield, lint percent and bolls per hectare as compared to parents. Percent heterosis for lint yield and boll number was negatively correlated with environment gradient for lint yield. Of all yield components, percent heterosis for boll retention has a significant negative correlation with environment mean. This indicates that in poor yielding or stressed environments hybrids retain more bolls than parents, leading to higher boll number and lint yield. Other yield components had small, statistically non-significant contributions showing complexity of lint yield as a trait. Increased yield of hybrids over parents in poor environments is a result of small contributions from different yield components. Of all yield components, boll retention had the most significant effect on increased yield of hybrids in low yielding environments.