Working group session:
Germplasm and Genetic Stocks
Presentation type:
poster
Authors:
Mahmood, Khalid ; Farooq, Jehanzeb
Presenter:
Farooq, Jehanzeb
Correspondent:
Farooq, Jehanzeb
Abstract:
Pakistan is an agricultural country and cotton is one of the major crop playing a pivotal role in boosting the national economy. Both biotic and abiotic stresses affect cotton crop which results in severe yield losses. Cotton leaf curl virus and heat stress are the major threats which limit cotton production in Pakistan. To tackle both these threats a breeding programme was initiated to develop cotton varieties which can perform well even in the prevalence of both these calamities. A special programme was designed to select parental lines which can tolerate cotton leaf curl virus and high temperature as well. During the selection procedure intensive care was taken regarding fiber quality of these parental lines. For the development of virus tolerant cultivars hot spot areas were chosen for the evaluation of promising material. For heat stress tolerance boll retention percentage and CMT% was considered as selection criteria. The genotype FH-142 performed very well throughout Pakistan both in terms of heat stress and virus tolerance and already approved for general cultivation in Punjab covering about 25% of the cultivated area in Punjab. Other strains like FH-Lalazar and FH-312 is under the process of approval. It is expected that in future more improved germplasm will be available which will enhance the cotton productivity in Pakistan.