Cotton Varieties and Hybrids

Abstract

There are four cultivated species of cotton viz. Gossypium arboreum, G.herbaceum, G.hirsutum and G.barbadense. The first two species are diploid (2n=26) and are native to old world. They are also known as Asiatic cottons because they are grown in Asia. The last two species are tetraploid (2n=52) and are also referred to as New World Cottons. G.hirsutum is also known as American cotton or upland cotton and G.barbadense as Egyptian cotton or Sea Island cotton or Peruvian Cotton or Tanguish Cotton or quality cotton.G.hirsutum is the predominant species which alone contributes about 90% to the global production. In USA and Uzbekistan, more than 90% area is covered by G.hirsutum. Perhaps, India is the only country in the world where all the four cultivated species are grown on commercial scale. In India, 45%, 30% and 24.7% area is covered by hybrids, upland cotton and diploid species respectively. G.barbadense is grown on a very little area (0.3%) in the state of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. G.herbaceum is limited to the states of Gujarat and Karnataka. G.hirsutum and G.arboreum are grown in all the major cotton growing states in India.