A selection criterion for earliness in herbaceous cotton.

• Autor(a) principal: Carvalho, Luiz Paulo de
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Outros Autores: Moreira, José de Alencar Nunes
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://seer.sct.embrapa.br/index.php/pab/article/view/16041
• topic: Gossypium; genetic improvement; boll weevil; Gossypium; melhoramento; bicudo-do-algodoeiro

Earliness is presently the characteristic most sought after by cotton breeders (Gossypium spp.) in breeding programs. Where the boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis, Boheman) is the principal pest, the cultivars that show early fruiting have a decided advantage over conventional materials. The explanation for this advantage is based upon the fact that such cultivars permit an acceptable production level to be achieved before pest populational density reaches economic damage levels. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the selection criterion for earliness on three selection cycles applied to the cultivar SU 0450-8909 (G. hirsutum r. latifolium), proceeding from Surubim Experiment Station, Surubim, PE, Brazil. The proposed selection criterion consisted of choosing plants which, when the majority were in the fully developed boll stage, presented the lower third occupied by capsules ready for harvest. Progeny tests were carried out in each cycle for the type of plant mentioned before. The results showed the efficiency of this character in discriminating the precocious plants within SU 0450-0989 cultivar and the sufficiency of genetic variability of this cultivar with the purpose of fixation of this important characteristic.