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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Cotton Ginning Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #269758
Title: Cotton genotype differences in fiber-seed attachment force

Author
item Boykin Jr, James
item Bechere, Efrem
item MEREDITH, W - Retired ARS Employee

Submitted to: Journal of Cotton Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/13/2012
Publication Date: 8/15/2012
Citation: Boykin Jr, J.C., Bechere, E., Meredith, W.R. 2012. Cotton genotype differences in fiber-seed attachment force. Journal of Cotton Science. 16:170-178.

Interpretive Summary: Cotton production in the U.S. is struggling at all levels to remain profitable in an increasingly competitive world market. Two key factors for increased profits in the cotton ginning industry are increased productivity and reduced energy usage. In addition, increased fiber quality elevates the monetary value of the product (cotton bales) while maintaining the reputation of high quality associated with U.S. cotton. Cotton cultivars are well known to differ in yield and fiber quality, and they also differ in how strongly fibers are attached to seed. Cultivars with low fiber-seed attachment force have the potential to be ginned faster with less energy and less fiber damage. The objective of this paper was to evaluate 15 genotypes to determine how net gin stand energy usage (that above idling), ginning rate, and fiber quality relate to fiber-seed attachment. A pendulum-type fiber-seed attachment tester was used to directly measure fiber-seed attachment force for these cultivars. This was a very laborious task. Energy consumption and ginning rate can be measured much more easily. Genotypes were found to exhibit a wide range of net gin stand energy (7.5 to 12.0 Wh/kg lint) and ginning rate (2.5 to 3.3 g lint/sec) as ginned on a 10-saw laboratory gin stand, and overall fiber-seed attachment force range from 36.1 to 64.1 cN*cm/mg fiber. A very significant positive correlation was found between fiber-seed attachment force and gin stand energy verifying the assumption that cultivar differences in gin stand energy were largely related to differences in fiber-seed attachment force. Both fiber-seed attachment force and gin stand energy were slightly negatively correlated with ginning rate hinting that cultivars with low fiber-seed attachment force ginned faster. These findings will be critical in future studies evaluating cultivar differences in fiber-seed attachment force by measuring gin stand energy consumption and ginning rate.

Technical Abstract: Cotton genotypes differ in how strongly fibers are attached to seed, and genotypes with reduced fiber-seed attachment force have the potential to be ginned faster with less energy and less fiber damage. The objective of this paper was to evaluate 15 genotypes to determine how net gin stand energy usage (that above idling), ginning rate, and fiber quality relate to fiber-seed attachment. Fiber-seed attachment force was measured with a pendulum-type tester for tufts of fiber on each side of the seed oriented towards the chalazel (rounded) end of the seed, micropyle (pointed) end of the seed, or in between (middle); and two sample preparation techniques were evaluated. Genotypes were found to exhibit a wide range of net gin stand energy (7.5 to 12.0 Wh/kg lint) and ginning rate (2.5 to 3.3 g lint/sec) as ginned on a 10-saw laboratory gin stand, and overall fiber-seed attachment force range from 36.1 to 64.1 cN*cm/mg fiber. There was a strong positive correlation between net gin stand energy and fiber-seed attachment force, but only a slight negative correlation between ginning rate and fiber-seed attachment force. Increased fiber-seed attachment force and increased fiber length both increased net gin stand energy, though fiber-seed attachment force was the dominant component of the relationship. The results of this study validated the assumption that net gin stand energy measurements can be used to predict genotype differences in fiber-seed attachment force, but it may be important to consider the effects of fiber length. These findings are important as net gin stand energy can be determined much more quickly than fiber-seed attachment force.