In partnership with the Co-operative Extension Cotton Specialists, Cotton Incorporated and SeedMatrix, a service offered by The Context Network, are announcing the launch of a new Web-based data communications tool that provides unparalleled opportunities for analyses of the yields and fiber quality of recently released cotton varieties. The Web site is housed at http://seedmatrix.com/CottonIncRegistration

“The advent of transgenic varieties fundamentally changed the availability of information to growers about the field performance of varieties when they are first sold. In many instances, no public test data is available on privately-released varieties in their first year of sales,” says Dale Logan, General Manager, SeedMatrix.

In 2012 Cotton Incorporated identified and addressed the need for information about new varieties with a pilot program. New cotton varieties were evaluated in replicated, large-plot trials on grower fields in the Southeast, Mid-South, and Southwest. 

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“Our approach was to compare 10 to12 new and standard commercial varieties at each location. We are making a best effort to provide the test data in a timely manner, using a standard format,” explains Dr. Bob Nichols, Senior Director, Agricultural and Environmental Research for Cotton Incorporated.

Responses from a recent Cotton Incorporated survey of U.S. cotton growers identified “objective evaluation of new varieties” as the second most important research issue, after information on management of resistant weeds.

The new Web site went live February 22.

The Cotton Research & Promotion Program continues to work in all areas of cotton’s pipeline – from the field to the consumer – to keep cotton the number one fiber choice in the U.S. For more information about the Cotton Board and the innovative activities stemming from the Program, visit www.cottonboard.org.

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