The Performance of Multi-Parental Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Hybrid Genotypes

We aimed to evaluate the possibilities of increasing the ginning out-turn in multi-parent hybrid populations of cotton. Two genotypes with high ginning out-turn were crossed with seven F-3 populations obtained from double crosses, and then fourteen F-1 populations were created in 2020. The F-1 populations, their grandparents, and two parents, a total of 23 genotypes, were compared by Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications in 2021. Significant differences were detected among genotypes, including crosses and parents for seed cotton yield per plant, ginning out-turn, fiber fineness, and fiber strength. The orthogonal contrasts indicated that the average performance of hybrids was significantly higher than that of parents for ginning out-turn, seed cotton yield per plant, and fiber fineness. Standard heterosis was between -11.19% and 20.54% for seed cotton yield per plant; 4.71% and 16.03% for ginning outtransferred to further generations. Multi-parent hybrids could be used to create the required variance and maintain dominance for the improvement of yield and ginning out-turn.