Scott,
Mississippi
January 11, 2000
Soon after Delta
and Pine Land Company was formed in 1911, breeding research came
to the forefront. The first breeding program was started in 1915,
conducted under the leadership of Early C. Ewing, Sr. with the goal of
improving varieties available to farmers. Through the years, many
things have changed as research efforts grew to include other regions
of the Cotton Belt. The customer focus has remained. Now, the company
has efforts in picker, stripper, Acala and Pima cotton as well as
soybeans with all programs utilizing the latest techniques to create
varieties for maximum performance.
"We need to develop varieties that
meet our customers’ changing needs so D&PL research objectives
are forever being refined," says Dr. Bill Hugie, the company’s
vice president of research. "As a research department, we need to
predict what those needs will be in 10 years and begin the development
now to meet those goals."
Steve M. Hawkins, company president
says, "D&PL has led the industry with advanced research and
high standards of product performance and quality. Our research
department continues to reach current goals and set new ones by
setting clear objectives both Beltwide and locally."
National objectives cross all of the
picker programs that are located in Hartsville, SC; Leland and Scott,
MS; Maricopa, AZ and locations to be determined in Georgia and the
Texas Rolling Plains. Those objectives include increased yield,
improved fiber quality, improved nematode and disease resistance all
while testing for variety stability to ensure consistent performance
over time and locations.
The localized objectives for picker
programs include the following:
- Mid-South ¾ early maturing
varieties and increased nematode resistance
- Southeast – drought and heat
tolerance
- West/Arizona – increased seed size
and turnout
There are some similar objectives
regarding increased yield and improved fiber quality for the stripper
program headquartered in Hale Center, TX that will soon be joined by
the new station in the Rolling Plains. However, increased storm
resistance and verticillium wilt resistance combine with earliness as
stripper-specific objectives.
Acala and Pima varieties are developed
through a cooperative program with Olvey & Associates in Arizona.
This program focuses on developing high yielding Acalas and Pimas with
superior fiber quality.
Soybean variety research is also an
important area for D&PL’s research department.
"Our soybean programs are in
Scott, MS and Hartsville, SC are striving to provide customers the
best varieties for Southern conditions," Hugie says. "We
have developed a very successful soybean product line and have a deep
pipeline we will continue to work with and add to in the coming
years."
Increase yield and yield stability are
the primary objectives in the soybean programs. Breeders also work to
develop varieties with multiple pest resistance, herbicide tolerance,
output traits and agronomic traits specific to the region supported by
the program.
All of these programs draw from the
latest in technology with transgenic and molecular breeding gaining in
importance. D&PL’s transgenic program capitalizes on the
successful gains made in the conventional picker and stripper programs
by utilizing backcrossing. The molecular program identifies genetic
"markers" that are linked to different traits. These markers
will ultimately be used to select for the presence and activity of
desired traits, thus speeding up the breeding process.
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 used its extensive plant breeding
programs drawing from a diverse germplasm base to develop superior
varieties. Delta and Pine Land has offices in seven states and
facilities in several foreign countries.
Company news release
N2387 |