Effects of Branch Zone and Fruiting Position On the Length by Weight Distribution

Cotton is grown by producers as a raw material input for textile mills.  Cotton fiber qualities continue to improve through crop management, genetic, and ginning improvements.  Competition from synthetic fibers, mill modernization, and global market competition have increased the demand for improved fiber quality, while changes in the textile industry and fiber measurement technology have resulted in a steady improvement in cotton fiber quality.  The Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS) analyzes cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fiber length distributions because variations in fiber length distribution impacts spinning performance.  The goal was to evaluate the entire AFIS fiber length distribution so distributions were evaluated rather than mean values.  Chi-square and Kolmogorov-Smirnov  tests were used to evaluate AFIS fiber length distributions among two cultivars (DPL 555 and PM 1218).  Fiber properties were determined on first and second branch position bolls on reproductive branches in a 1-m section of row in each plot.  The objective was to evaluate differences in the shape of histograms between cotton plant zones, cotton boll position, and cotton variety.