Abstract
Cotton is one of the most important industrial crops in the world. Though widely cultivated in Sicily (Italy) in the past, cotton growth on the island has disappeared today due to a complex variety of agronomic, economic and socio-political reasons. In recent years, increased interest in natural fibers worldwide has led to a revival in cotton plants in the Mediterranean area. The aim of this paper was to assess the response of Gossypium hirsutum L. cultivars to different environments and sowing times. Elsa and Juncal were selected from the most promising cotton cultivars regarding earliness and productivity. Plants were tested with three sowing times and in two Sicilian environments. Cotton yield and yield components were significantly affected by experimental station, sowing time and cultivar. Lint yield of cultivars was 1.60 t ha−1 on average, and the highest value of 1.99 t ha−1 was obtained from an early sowing time. The three indices of agronomic earliness varied significantly based on treatments. In conclusion, the evaluation of response genotype-by-environment under different sowing times could represent a strategy to obtain optimal cotton seed and lint yields, although other general aspects, such as labor costs, land availability and capital resources, should be also considered when evaluating the reintroduction of the species in Sicily.
Highlights
Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is an annual open field crop belonging to the Malvaceae family
This paper reports the results of two-year trials on upland cotton cultivars within the research project “Assessment of morphological, biological and agronomic characteristics of cotton cultivars for the re-introduction of this species into Sicily”
Cotton yield and yield components were significantly affected by environment, sowing time, cultivar and interactions between the main factors
Summary
Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is an annual open field crop belonging to the Malvaceae family. It is a semi-xerophytic species native to North and Central America, and Mexico and grows well in tropical and subtropical climate conditions. It shows marked adaptation ability to a large variety of soils and, of particular interest, it is semi-tolerant to salinity [1], it is not cultivated in all geographic areas of the world [2] and it shows sensitivity to water logging [3,4,5]. From an economic point of view, it is one of the most important industrial crops in the world [6], cultivated for the production of both fiber and oilseed. The fibers demonstrate excellent physical properties, making this species the main source of natural fiber in the world [7,8,9]
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