Anaheim, California
January, 2001

Research conducted by Delta and Pine Land Company in three dryland cotton-growing regions of Texas suggests that early-season fruit retention may boost yields in the northern Blacklands (north Texas), although no such trend was found in the southern Blacklands (central Texas) or Coastal Bend (south Texas) regions.

The research report, Comparing Early Season Fruit Retention Across Different Physiogeographic Regions of Texas, will be presented by Doug Pustejovsky, technical services agronomist for Delta and Pine Land Company at the 2001 Beltwide Cotton Conferences in Anaheim, Calif. (Saturday, 8:45 a.m. in the Cotton Physiology Conference session A). The objectives of the research were to explore whether regional differences in early-season fruit retention exist, analyze what may cause these differences, and decipher whether early-season fruit loss has any impact on final lint yield.

"The research shows there are significant differences in early-season fruit retention across various regions, with north Texas having the lowest retention and the Coastal Bend having the highest," says Pustejovsky. "In addition, there is a significant negative relationship between cotton fleahopper densities and early-season retention; i.e., the more fleahoppers, Pseudatomoscelis seriatus, the less fruit retention."

Pustejovsky notes that the north Texas region historically has had higher cotton fleahopper populations than central Texas and that most early-season fruit loss has been connected to insects.

"Although not statistically significant, in north Texas yield trends got better as early-season fruit retention rose, but that wasn’t the case in south and central Texas," says Pustejovsky. "For the north Texas farmer, if you do a good job of controlling fleahoppers and setting fruit, you may have the opportunity to boost yields."

The research was conducted with producers in commercial cotton fields on farms with similar cotton production practices, soil structure (clay) and weather patterns. No environmental causes for regional differences in fruit retention could be found.

"Conventional wisdom is that dryland cotton is usually less able to compensate for early-season fruit loss due to the sheer nature of how the crop is grown," says Pustejovsky. "Rainfall is most likely the limiting factor to yield. When dry production years are combined with poor early-season fruit set, yields may not be fully realized due to missed fruiting positions and lack of moisture late in the season. The problem can be addressed in two ways: irrigate or maximize early-season fruit set in hopes of fully realizing the yield potential."

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 more than 80 years, the Mississippi-based company has drawn from its diverse germplasm base to breed superior plant varieties. Delta and Pine Land has offices in seven states and facilities in several foreign countries and trades under the NYSE symbol DLP.

The full text of this and other presentations can reviewed at www.deltaandpine.com/html/beltwide

Company news release
N3256