Spotlight on … Agricultural Research
What are cotton breeders looking for to help mills, and how are they doing it?
Today’s cotton breeders
are working hard to improve
all high volume instrument
(HVI®) properties in new cotton
varieties, but a special
effort is directed at improving
fiber length and uniformity.
A number of years ago,
fiber strength was the primary
focus in cotton breeding
programs due to the predominance
of rotor spinning.
However, with dramatic increases
in the number of ring
spindles in use around the
world, fiber length and uniformity
have become more
important because both signifi
cantly affect yarn quality produced using the ringspinning
process. Regardless of the HVI® property
being improved in the cotton plant, producing new
varieties is a costly and time-consuming process.
Researching and developing new cotton varieties involves
both genotyping and phenotyping. Genotyping,
which is conducted in the laboratory, refers to the process
of determining the genetic nucleotide makeup of
the cotton variety. Phenotyping, which is conducted
in field environments, is the process of collecting “observable
characteristics” of the cotton plant. One of
the newer tools used in genotyping is the discovery of
single nucleotide polymorphism markers (SNPs). If a
SNP marker is identified, it can be quantified to determine
if it associates with a particular trait of interest.
Likewise, a second SNP marker
may associate with another
desirable trait. In a practical
breeding program, if a SNP
marker is present in individuals
with long fiber length, and
a second SNP marker associates
with improved uniformity,
then selection for both
markers would increase the
odds that a breeder may identify
varieties with both superior
traits. This process holds
the promise of increasing fiber
length while simultaneously
improving uniformity.
Developing new cotton varieties
takes years of hard work and research. Cotton
breeders start with hundreds of crosses and thousands
of segregating families, conduct multi-year experiments
in a range of environments to test tolerance
to drought and insects, and eventually commercialize
varieties about eight years after the initial testing.
Along the way, the use of genotyping and phenotyping
plays a crucial role in adding to the body of knowledge
that allows commercialization of products that
perform well not only in the mills of today, but equally
well in the mills of tomorrow. Cotton breeders continue
to work on traits such as fiber length and uniformity
that benefit mill operations as technology continues
to change.
The Future of the EFS® System
The Engineered Fiber Selection® (EFS) System has
continued to be an important part of the cotton industry
since its introduction in 1982. As the cotton
industry changes and grows, the EFS System will also
change to adapt to an export-driven market.
In 1982, Cotton Incorporated introduced MILLNet™
software, a DOS-based software program designed to
help textile mills manage their cotton spinning process.
Today, much has changed in the cotton industry,
and the EFS System has changed and grown with
it. Software programs currently under development
at Cotton Incorporated will allow the EFS System to
branch out and serve merchants and co-ops in more
depth. The most important factor is that the domestic
cotton market is becoming more export driven. To
better serve the needs of the domestic cotton industry,
the EFS System must adapt as well.
The software currently being developed by Cotton
Incorporated will streamline the flow of cotton and
cotton information. This will allow not only merchants
and co-ops to manage their cotton inventory better,
but it will also allow domestic textile mills to interact
with merchants and co-ops more efficiently. This does
not mean that the EFS System will abandon its millbased
software programs. Mill-based software programs
will become more refined and function within
a suite of programs designed to be completely integrated.
This means that the information flow between
merchants, co-ops and mills worldwide will become
more efficient and timely.
Attention: Economic Adjustment Assistance Program
It is our understanding that the Economic Adjustment Assistance Program is still in development and
will not be in place until possibly October 2008. Once the program is in place, an update for EFS System
software will be sent to all EFS System users for reporting the consumption of U.S. Upland cotton within
the assistance program.
EFS Customer Service Hotline
(919) 678-2508
email: efssystem@cottoninc.com
Monday-Friday
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Eastern time
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