ESTIMATES OF GENETIC PARAMETERS FOR SELECTION OF COLORED COTTON FIBER1

ABSTRACT Naturally-colored cotton fiber has received attention from breeding programs in the semiarid region of northeastern Brazil due to an increased interest in its fibers. Therefore, this study aimed to select genotypes of colored cotton fiber for agronomic and technological fiber characteristics for the Brazilian semi-arid conditions. The experiment was carried out in two environments (Patos-PB and Apodi-RN) in Brazil during the 2016 growing season. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with four replications. Treatments consisted of eleven colored fiber genotypes and three controls (BRS Topázio, BRS Rubi, and BRS Verde). The following traits were assessed: seed cotton yield (SCY, kg ha-1), lint percentage (LP, %), lint length (LEN, mm), lint strength (STR, gf tex-1), and lint micronaire (MIC, µg in-1). The data were submitted to individual and joint variance analyses, and means were grouped by the Scott and Knott (1974) test at 0.05 probability. Genotypes showed variability in all traits, which allows genetic gains in subsequent cycles of selection. The genotypes BRS Topázio, CNPA 2002 10245, and CNPA 2002 10327 presented the best estimates for the assessed traits, thus they can be selected for future studies in cotton breeding programs in the semiarid region.