Systems Agronomic and Economic Evaluation of Cotton Varieties in ...

Results and Discussion:Agronomic data including plant population, nodes above white flower (NAWF), bollstorm resistance, and final plant map data are included in Tables 1-3.Significant differences were noted for all yield and economic parameters (Table 4).Lint turnout averaged 35.4% with a high of 37.7% and low of 32.9% for NexGen1511B2RF and All-Tex Nitro-44 B2RF, respectively. Bur cotton yields averaged3709 lb/acre across varieties and differences were significant at the 0.10 level. Lintyields varied from a low of 1167 lb/acre (All-Tex Nitro-44 B2RF) to a high of 1456lb/acre (Dyna-Gro 2595B2RF). Lint loan values ranged from a low of $0.5223/lb toa high of $0.5715/lb for Stoneville 5458B2RF and FiberMax 2484 B2F,respectively. When adding lint and seed value, total value ranged from a high of$1102.72/acre for Dyna-Gro 2595B2RF to a low of $915.53 /acre for All-TexNitro-44 B2RF. After subtracting ginning, seed costs and technology fees, the netvalue/acre among varieties ranged from a high of $921.49/acre (Dyna-Gro2595B2RF) to a low of $748.42/acre (All-Tex Nitro-44 B2RF), a difference of$173.07.Significant differences were observed among varieties for all fiber qualityparameters at this location (Table 5). Micronaire values ranged from a low of 4.3for All-Tex Nitro-44 B2RF and Croplan Genetics 3787B2RF to a high of 4.9 forDeltapine 0912B2RF. Staple averaged 34.7 across all varieties with a high of 36.5for All-Tex Nitro-44 B2RF and a low of 33.5 for NexGen 1511B2RF. Differencesin uniformity were highly significant and values ranged from a high of 83.0% forAll-Tex Nitro-44 B2RF to a low of 80.3% for Stoneville 5484B2RF with a testaverage of 81.8%. Strength ranged from a low of 29.0 g/tex for Stoneville5484B2RF to a high of 32.9 g/tex for All-Tex Nitro-44 B2RF. Elongation averaged10.5% across and leaf grades were mostly 1 and 2. Color grade components of Rd(reflectance) and +b (yellowness) averaged 77.0 and 9.2, respectively andresulted in color grades of mostly 21 and 31.These data indicate that substantial differences can be obtained in terms of netvalue/acre due to variety selection. Additional multi-site and multi-year appliedresearch is needed to evaluate varieties across a series of environments.Acknowledgments:Disclaimer Clause:Appreciation is expressed to Mike and Jacob Henson for the use of their land,equipment and labor for this demonstration. Further assistance with this projectwas provided by Dr. Jane Dever - Texas A&M AgriLife Research and ExtensionCenter, Lubbock, and Dr. Eric Hequet - Associate Director, Fiber and BiopolymerResearch Institute, Texas Tech University. Furthermore, we greatly appreciatethe Texas Department of Agriculture - Food and Fiber Research for funding of HVItesting.Trade names of commercial products used in this report are included only forbetter understanding and clarity. Reference to commercial products or tradenames is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and noendorsement by the Texas A&M System is implied. Readers should realize thatresults from one experiment do not represent conclusive evidence that the sameresponse would occur where conditions vary.51