PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY OF COTTON FIBER IN DIFFERENT PLANTING SEASONS

Cotton is one of the main agricultural products produced in Brazil. With such a high demand in the market, it is necessary that the cotton cultivars present high productivity and fiber quality. In order to favor the expression of the potential of the genotypes, the cultivation must occur in climatic conditions that provide good development of the plants, being the sowing time a primordial factor for the good performance of the cotton plant. In order to establish an ideal sowing season for different cotton genotypes, the present study aimed to evaluate the best sowing season of cotton genotypes for the environment of Uberlandia (Minas Gerais State), aiming at productivity and fiber quality. The experiment was carried out in field conditions, in the 2016/2017 harvest in the experimental area located at Fazenda Capim Branco, in the city of Uberlandia, Minas Gerais State. A randomized complete block design (DBC) with four replications in a 4x7 factorial scheme was used: 4/12 sowing dates: 05/12, 19/12, 30/12, 13/01 and 7 genotypes. 5 strains of the breeding program of the Federal University of Uberlandia (UFU) and 2 commercial cultivars. The evaluated characteristics were: seed cotton yield, feather yield, micronaire index, maturity index, fiber length, uniformity of length, short fibers, resistance and elongation. It was concluded that the best sowing season for a high productivity was the one performed on 12/05/16, with emphasis on the UFUJP-Z genotype. For fiber quality, UFUJP-C showed the best results at the 12/19/16 sowing season.