Variability of cotton shoot structure under the effect of weather conditions

Background. Cotton is a valuable crop with multiple uses. Flexibility of the Mexican species Gossypium hirsutum L., the most widely cultivated, is largely due to the morphological diversity of its representatives. Shoot structure is of particular practical importance—height, number of branches of different types, and number of bolls per plant. It demonstrates the potential of cotton accessions, so it is crucial to study the morphology of accessions and the variability of individual plant structure components under the effect of external conditions.

Materials and methods. A set of 29 cotton accessions from the VIR collection and a number of new Russian cultivars were studied at the Caspian Agrarian Federal Research Center (CAFRC) in 2023–2024 under adverse weather conditions. VIR’s methods were used for comparative evaluation of morphological characters. A two-way ANOVA was performed.

Results. The mean values varied significantly across the years. In 2023, plant height and the number of vegetative were lower due to the delayed plant development in June, but the number of bolls per plant was 1.5 times higher. In 2024, the variability within the set decreased. The highest boll number in both years was recorded for the reference cv. ‘AS 5’ (k-8012), and cv. ‘Yu-190’ from Dagestan (k-3185). Cv. ‘Feniks’ (Budennovsk) was the most stable in all its traits. ANOVA showed that all factors expressly affected the variability of the studied characters, so the differences within the set of accessions were statistically significant.

Conclusion. Studying the variability of yield components under the effect of weather conditions can help to identify the most valuable accessions for specific environmental conditions at the early stages of plant development.

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