There's an adage in the cotton industry that growers choose the varieties they plant based on three factors - yield, yield and yield. If textile mills were to make a list of the varietal characteristics that would drive their decisions, quality might be in the top three positions. Environment has a large impact on the yield and quality potential as does breeding. Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Cotton Utilization Conference, Dr. Tom Kerby, vice president of technical services at Delta and Pine Land Company, will discuss D&PL's matching the differing needs.

Kerby points to the average yields in each of the past three decades as evidence that there has been yield progress.

"There has been sustained improvement in average yield in the last 35 years," he says. "The average yield in the 1970s was 475, it rose to an average of 573 in the 1980s and to 640 in the 1990s. But the production in recent years has been notable. A new all time yield record of 723 pounds of lint per harvested acre for Upland cotton was established in 2003. This record appears to be shattered by the December 2004 results which were reported as 818 pounds of lint per acre according to the USDA-AMS projected yield. Back-to-back record yields with the 10-year trends noted suggest breeders have been making progress in yield."

Kerby points to the key varieties planted and the varieties they replaced for making this yield improvement. "DP 555 BG/RR is well-known for outstanding yield potential," he says. "It was grown on 8.7 percent of the 2003 acres and 14.9 of the 2004 acres according to USDA-AMS Cotton Varieties Planted Reports. DP 555 BG/RR has shown an average yield increase of about 15 percent over DP 458 B/RR while maintaining about the same level of fiber quality."

He points to the new varieties with high yield potential and favorable growing conditions for creating new target yield levels. Textile mills and growers alike feel the pressure of a more global industry and the positive impact increases in quality could have on these marketing efforts. Kerby says the company has pointed to the new varieties D&PL has introduced during the last few Beltwide's new developments session as showing improvements in quality as well.

"Two of the most widely planted varieties in the last five years were PM 1218 BG/RR and ST 4892 BR. DP 444 BG/RR was introduced in significant quantities in 2004 - the USDA-AMS says it was planted on 6.5 percent of the US acres," Kerby says. "When we look at all the public data as well as D&PL's extensive database, we find 438 head-to-head comparisons of DP 444 BG/RR with PM 1218 BG/RR and 607 comparisons against ST 4892 BR.

These data indicate DP 444 BG/RR significant yield increase over the comparison varieties as well as substantially higher fiber quality, particularly lower micronaire (average of 3.94) and longer fiber with an average strength of 30.0 g/tex while maintaining the good uniformity of fiber length of the check varieties. DP 488 BG/RR, DP 494 RR, DP 432 RR, and DP 434 RR are also examples of new varieties with high yield and fiber quality potential that are now available to growers in significant quantities."

Kerby continues saying "These varieties demonstrate a good combination of outstanding yield potential with fiber quality that has been significantly improved over the previous varieties with significant market share. In past years many growers have been hesitant to abandon high yielding varieties for varieties with high fiber quality potential because they frequently did not meet grower expectations for yield. We believe these new D&PL varieties will find wide acceptance because they have combined potential for both yield and fiber quality."

Kerby says these advancements have been the result of D&PL's extensive, long-term breeding efforts. "These new varieties with high yield and fiber quality potential are the result of substantial investment in germplasm breeding as well as an aggressive testing effort. D&PL maintains ten total conventional breeding programs designed to create unique combinations for yield and fiber quality. The germplasm coming out of these programs enters a coordinated advanced testing program that allows all breeders to evaluate their germplasm in all 10 breeding regions. And fiber quality is monitored throughout the entire program."

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.