Justin J. Scheiner, Josh Bynum, and J.T. Cothren. Texas A&M University, 370 Olsen Blvd., College Station, TX 77843-2474
1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) was discovered in the mid 1990's as an ethylene action inhibitor. It has since proven to be a useful tool in the horticulture industry. To date more than 100 studies have been conducted with 1-MCP, examining its action in a variety of fruits, vegetables, and floriculture crops. Effects have been reported on respiration, ethylene production, volatile production, chlorophyll degradation, protein and membrane changes, softening, disorders and diseases, and acidity and sugars (Blankenship and Dole, 2002). In cotton, fruit abscission is a common physiological response to environmental stress. Ethylene, an abscission catalyst, is thought to be responsible for loss of immature fruit, which decreases overall yield. Protecting a cotton crop from ethylene through its early reproductive stages could boost yields by increasing boll retention. Based on previous research, 1-MCP could be the key in overcoming early season stressed related fruit loss. In 2005 a two year field study was conducted the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Burleson County, Texas to examine the effects of 1-MCP on cotton lint yield, fruit retention, and fruit distribution. The study was arranged as a randomized complete block design with four replications. There were fourteen treatments consisting of four rates of 1-MCP applied at various growth stages. The parameters measured for this study included lint yield, fiber quality, fruit retention, and fruit distribution.
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