Correlations and selection of parents to technological traits of upland cotton

ABSTRACT: Technological traits improvement of cotton fiber is a constant demand by textile industry. This research aimed to identify the potential of improved materials with high lint percentage to contribute with alleles that increase the lint percentage in Extra long staple fiber (ELS) upland cotton. Two contrasting materials for lint percentage (LP) and fiber length (FL) were used, one with long fiber and a low lint percentage (parent A) and another with high lint percentage and medium length (parent B). The following variables were evaluated: lint percentage (LP), upper half mean length (UHML), fiber uniformity (FU), fiber strength (FS), and elongation (EL). Diallel analysis was performed using the Griffing’s Method 4 adapted to partial diallel. Additive effects were predominant over non-additive effects. The mean LP was higher when using parent B. The opposite occurred for UHML. A negative correlation was detected between LP and UHML, showing the difficulty of obtaining genetic gain for both traits at the same time.