Thirty six candidate cotton varieties developed by different breeders of Pakistan were tested consecutively for two years (2017 and 2018) and at seven locations of Sindh and Balochista Provinces in national coordinated varietal trials (NCVT). The trials were conducted to explore seed cotton yield potential and fiber properties against two check varieties (CIM-602 and FH-142/IUB-13). As per claim of the breeders, the samples of all varieties for both the years were sent to four designated biotechnological laboratories for conducting biochemical tests also. The results revealed highly significant differences among the varieties for both the years. During the year 2017, on an average of six location, top ten high yielding varieties recorded were GH-Haadi, Weal-AG-6, VH-189, GH-Mubarak, Weal-AG-5, MNH-1026, Badar-1(DG), FH-444, CIM-343 and TJ-Max(DG) which yielded 3434, 3407, 3342, 3255, 3251, 3248, 3185, 3154, 3134 and 3131 kg/ha seed cotton yield respectively. When the results of 2018 trial were looked at, averagely top ten high yielding varieties were GH-Haadi, ICI-2121, CRIS-613, VH-383, VH-189, NIAB-898, FH-490, Cyto-225, Tahafuz-10(DG) and GS-Ali-7 with 3526, 3356, 3306, 3139, 3101, 3091, 3084, 3074, 3060 and 3026 kg/ha of seed cotton yield respectively. However, on an average of both the years (2017 and 2018), top ten high yielding varieties were GH-Haadi, VH-189, CRIS-613, Weal-AG-6, GH-Mubarak, Badar-1(DG), ICI-2121, Weal-AG-5, FH-940 and MNH-1026 producing 3480, 3221, 3186, 3155, 3113, 3083, 3057, 3054, 3042 and 3042 kg/ha of seed cotton respectively. As regards fiber properties, (04 candidate varieties) could qualified all fiber standards set by government. The biochemical test results received from all four laboratories revealed that on an average of four laboratories and two years, the trait purity range recorded was from 42 to 96 percent, whereas, quantification of Bt toxin ranged from 0.74 to 2.62. From the present study, it was concluded that almost 15-20 candidate varieties have the potential to be included among already approved varieties for commercial cultivation in the province of the Punjab.
Determination of Tolerance Levels of Cotton Genotypes Obtained from F6-F7 Generation against Verticillium Wilt Disease Caused by Verticillium dahliae Kleb.