Differences in Seedling Vigor Among Modern Cotton Cultivars and Advanced Breeding Lines

Stand establishment and early vigor are critical to successful cotton production. Much is known about the effects of seed quality on cotton emergence, but little is documented about early cotton growth independent of seed quality.  Our objective is to characterize the physiology and genetics of resource allocation by cotton plants during the time between emergence and first bloom.  As an initial step, this project compares and contrasts early vigor among modern cultivars and advanced breeding lines through measurements of leaf area development and biomass accumulation under field conditions.  Data were collected over two years; significant genotypic differences were observed.