History, changes, impacts, and perspectives of the National Cotton Variety Test (NCVT): Sixty years of the program

Authors: Zeng, Linghe

Submitted to: Journal of Cotton Science
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/20/2021
Publication Date: 12/31/2021
Citation: Zeng, L. 2021. History, changes, impacts, and perspectives of the National Cotton Variety Test (NCVT): Sixty years of the program. Journal of Cotton Science. 25:205-202.

Interpretive Summary: The National Cotton Variety Test (NCVT) is an USDA-ARS national program to run annual trials across the U.S. Cotton Belt to evaluate cotton lines developed by major U.S. cotton breeding programs for lint yield and fiber quality. This year is 60th anniversary in the program history. In the past 60 years, the program has greatly impacted U.S. cotton production and scientific research. This review article introduced the background of the program and the leadership history, went through the original objectives and their changes in history, and summarized the accomplishments of the program in cotton research. With a rapidly changing environment and increasing challenges from global market for cotton fibers, our missions have changed to make the U.S. cotton more profitable for growers and more competitive in the global market. The NCVT history reviewed in this article reflects the efforts of the U.S. cotton breeders on improving cotton varieties by battling environmental influences. The scientific accomplishments reviewed in this article can be used as references and guidelines in future cotton breeding.

Technical Abstract: The National Cotton Variety Test (NCVT) is an USDA-ARS national program to evaluate cotton varieties/lines developed by major U.S. cotton breeding programs for lint yield, fiber quality, and seed quality in annual trials across the U.S. Cotton Belt. This year is 60th anniversary in the program history, and this review article provides the background of the program, the leadership history, the original objectives and their changes in history, and a summary of the impacts in cotton production and accomplishments of the program in cotton research. The NCVT history reviewed in this article reflects the efforts of the U.S. cotton breeders to improve cotton varieties by battling environmental influences in cotton production and increasing competition in the global market of cotton raw fibers. The scientific accomplishments reviewed in this article can be used as references and guidelines in future cotton breeding.