The long-term breeding efforts to incorporate high quality fiber properties of PeeDee lines into high yielding germplasm is the subject of a paper being presented during Thursday's Cotton Improvement and Utilization Conference.  Dr. Dawn Fraser, Delta and Pine Land Company's Atlantic Coast cotton breeder, will present the paper that documents the effort that began in 1989 and continues today.

Fraser points out that while improvement in yield is the major objective of commercial cotton breeding, improvements in fiber quality are also essential to meet the demands of commercial ginning and textile production. 

She says, "In many cases, attempts to improve yield have been shown to have negative effects on one or more fiber quality traits.  At the same time, directed attempts to improve fiber quality have often resulted in yield stagnation.  This shows the complexity of selecting for multiple traits.  To make advances in both areas may require many years of effort and multiple selection cycles to obtain positive results."

Dr. Cindy Green, D&PL's director of germplasm evaluation, was the breeder who initiated the program to incorporate the PeeDee material into high yielding varieties. 

"The original crosses were made in 1990 and each year we've performed additional crossing, testing and/or selection to help us reach this point," Green says.  "This level of breeding commitment in terms of time and expertise is possible due to the depth and breadth of our breeding programs."

D&PL leads the cotton seed industry with ten breeding programs focused on conventional breeding and separate personnel and resources dedicated to our transgenic development.  With such an extensive variety development program, D&PL breeders can make long-term commitments to developing germplasm as well as commercial varieties.

Delta and Pine Land Company is a commercial breeder, producer and marketer of cotton planting seed, as well as soybean seed in the Cotton Belt.  For almost 90 years, the Company has used its extensive cotton plant breeding programs drawing from a diverse germplasm base to develop improved varieties.  Delta and Pine Land (NYSE:  DLP), headquartered in Scott, Mississippi, has offices in eight states and facilities in several foreign countries.