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Evaluation of F 2 Genotypes of Cotton for Conservation Tillage
Author(s) -
Bauer Philip J.,
Green Cynthia C.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1996.0011183x003600030023x
Subject(s) - tillage , agronomy , biology , lint , loam , sowing , mulch , conventional tillage , population , minimum tillage , mulch till , no till farming , soil water , ecology , soil fertility , demography , sociology
Reduced plant populations often occur when cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) is grown in conservation tillage systems. Our objectives were to determine the potential of exploiting hybrid vigor in F 2 cotton to improve stand establishment and yield in conservation tillage systems and to compare the expression of heterosis in this system with that in a conventional tillage system. This field study was conducted in 1991,1992, and 1994 on a Norfolk loamy sand soil (fine‐loamy, silicious, thermic, Typic Kandiudult) near Florence, SC. Five cotton cultivars were crossed in a half‐diallel design to generate 10 F 2 generation genotypes. The parent and F 2 generations were planted into conservation tillage plots that had desiccated crimson clover ( Trifolium incarnatum L.) as a surface mulch and into conventional tillage plots. Cotton stands were similar for both generations in both tillage systems in 1991. At 2 wk after planting in 1992, a tillage × (Parent vs. F 2 ) interaction ( P ≤ 0.05) occurred for plant population as stands in conventional tillage were 7.5 and 8.4 plants m −1 for the parent and F 2 generations, respectively, while stands in conservation tillage were 4.1 plants m −1 for the parents and 4.2 plants m −1 for the F 2 generation. At 2 wk after planting in 1994, stands of the F 2 generation were 1.3 plants m −1 greater than the parents averaged over both tillage systems. Yield differences occurred only in 1992, when the F 2 generation had greater lint yield than the parents in both tillage systems. The results suggest that growing F 2 genotypes may improve cotton stand establishment and yield under certain conditions in conservation tillage systems, but the amount of improvement will be similar to that found in conventional tillage.