Genetic Variability for Earliness Traits in Upland Cotton

Muhammad Abubakar*1, Muhammad Zahid1, Fajar Raheem1, Noor Ul Ain1, Asma Rafi1 Zahid Akram1 and Ume Ruqia Zainab2

1Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture Faisalabad 2Department of Botany, University of Agriculture Faisalabad

Abstract

Cotton is a warm-season, perennial shrub and commonly referred to as "white gold." It is a member of the Gossypium genus, which is classified into the Malvaceae family. Genetic variability in the germplasm is a prerequisite before starting any breeding programs. Genetics variabilities studies of available cotton genotypes will facilitate for the selection of potential parent for the improvement of cotton. A group of 14 cotton genotypes (PB-94, PB-96, PB-97, PB-101, PB-113, PB-126, PB-128, PB-130, PB-132, PB-133, PB-136, PB-137, FH-490 and LALAZAR) were analyzed to evaluate the genetic variability of cotton. This experiment was carried out at the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. A randomized complete block design with two replications was used for the experiment. Data was recorded for plant height, internodal distance, number of bolls per plant, boll weight, earliness index, the node number of the first sympodial branch having effective boll, number of monopodial branches per plant, number of sympodial branches per plant, the node of the first sympodial branch, seed index, seed cotton yield, number of seeds per boll, ginning out turn, fiber length, fiber strength, and fiber uniformity. Significant results were observed among genotypes for all attributes. The genotype PB-136 showed the highest potential for seed index while PB-130 expressed the best performance for fiber length and fiber uniformity. PB-132 and PB-113 showed highest potential for internodal distance and seed cotton yield respectively. These results showed the potential of studied genotypes for using in future breeding program for the development if high yielding cotton varieties.