Varietal Mixture in Cotton with Emphasis on Yield and Economic Stability

Variety selection is one of the most important decisions a grower can make. However, there isn’t one variety that will outperform competitors in every environment, and attempts to predict which variety will perform best in subsequent year’s is improbable for all soils or environments. Experiments were conducted to determine if a mixture of highly competitive varieties with a high degree of yield stability in some environments will improve stability over a broader range of environments. Using historical data collected from multiple on-farm and official variety trials in 2015 and 2016 across the state of North Carolina and the NC State Extension’s NC Cotton Variety Performance Calculator, the following 5 varieties were chosen. The varieties include Deltapine 1538 B2XF, Phytogen 312 WRF, DP 1646 B2XF, NexGen 3522 B2XF, and Stoneville 4848 GLT. There are 8 treatments total and include each variety planted alone, all five mixed in equal proportions, DP 1538 mixed with DP 1646, and PHY 312 with ST 4848. Stand counts are taken at the beginning of the season and yield and fiber quality are collected to evaluate stability of variety mixtures compared to each variety of the mixture planted alone. Trials were conducted in 13 locations in 2017 and 11 locations in 2018.