Breeding for Drought Tolerant Cotton.

Improving drought tolerance in cotton would benefit lint yield production, perfromance stability and fiber quality. At the Texas A&M University Cotton Improvement Laboratory, seedlings from select breeding lines were screened in the greenhouse for drought tolerance. Those same lines were tested in dryland locations across Texas to evaluate adult stage drought tolerance. Measurements in the field included yield performance, plant mapping, and leaf temperature. Lines deemed drought tolerant at the seedling stage were usually drought tolerant at the adult stage, but deviations from this conclusion did exist. Screening at the seedling stage may help to quickly and methodically identify genotypes with superior drought tolerance.