**5. Cotton germplasm in private sectors**

curl virus disease resistance, jassid resistance, suitable for rainfed tracts, resistance to Verti‐ cillium wilt etc., On the other hand, during 2002, the AICCIP has recommended to de-notify 99 varieties and hybrids that are no longer under cultivation or that are inferior in fibre

The problems that impede utilization of germplasm for breeding include photosensitivity, mismatching of blooming period, low fertility index, etc. There is a need for rapid screening of geographically diverse germplasm for useful traits such as low cost technology proposed at CICR, Nagpur for rapid evaluation of germplasm for photo-sensitivity [18]. Equally, genetical studies have been often limited mainly to yield contributing characters and fibre properties and a very little work has been reported on seed oil improvement in cotton. Nevertheless, wide range of genetic variability has been reported (15-33%) for seed oil content

In the recently conducted AICCIP meeting, the breeders are requested to submit two packets of 100 g seeds (in case of varieties) in addition to the number of locations finalized in the panel for long term storage of elite breeding materials. In the panel, detailed discussion was also held for promoting the entries from national trials to the zonal trials. So far, the entries are promoted on the basis of zonal mean to the corresponding zone. It is proposed to promote entries on the basis of 'agro-ecological subzone', henceforth. The draft proposal will be circulated among the breeders and based on the consensus the proposal will be submitted to ICAR, New Delhi for further directives. Detailed discussion was also held on formulating certain index based on seed cotton yield, lint yield, 2.5% span length and bundle strength for

In India, various Transfer of Technology (TOT) programs in cotton have been implemented underlining the importance of problem solving, creating effective scientists and farmers linkage and transferring the latest cotton production technologies to the production line. 'Front Line Demonstration (FLD)' is one of the TOT programs which created remarkable impact on cotton production and facilitated excellent scientist‐farmer linkage for the effective transfer of latest cotton protection technologies. In addition to this, the AICCIP is also actively involved in FLDs on improved technologies and organising Kisan Melas (Farmer's day) for effective and speedy dissemination of newer production technologies among farmers. During the year 2012‐13, FLDs on cotton production technology and FLDs on cotton integrated pest manage‐ ment (IPM) were conducted by 13 AICCIP centres. The main emphasis was given to the demonstrations for enhancing the production of cotton in low productivity areas / problematic areas with improved package of practices. In addition, the cotton breeder seed production and implementation of "Special Component Plan for Scheduled Caste" and "Tribal Sub Plan for

The development and commercial cultivation of *Bt* cotton hybrid in 2002 is a revolutionary landmark in Indian agriculture after the green revolution during 1960s. With the introduction

in global collection of in Indian germplasm collections [19].

promoting the entries from national to zonal trials.

Scheduled Tribes" are also monitored through the AICCIP.

properties [3].

126 World Cotton Germplasm Resources

**4.** *Bt* **cotton**

There are several national and multinational seed companies in India that focus on breeding, development and commercialization of cotton hybrids, including Bt and other beneficial genes. The cotton plant has been transformed with variety of genes expressing different traits such as insect resistance, herbicide tolerance, drought tolerance, improved fibre quality etc. However, only insect resistance genes have been approved, either individually and/or stacked in various combinations, for commercial cultivation. Each private sector has their own germplasm and breeding materials (since they are under propriety right protection, such breeding materials have not been disclosed to the public). Some private sectors that are actively involved in Bt cotton hybrid development and/or cotton research in India include Mahyco, Rasi Seeds, Nuziveedu Seeds, Ganga Kaveri Seeds, Ajeet Seeds, Tulasi Seeds, Prabhat Seeds, Vikram Seeds, Nath Seeds, Vibha Seeds, Bioseeds, Nandi Seeds, Bayer Crop Science, JK Seeds, Dow Agrosciences, Krishidhan seeds, Zurai Seeds, Navkar Hybrids and DuPont India.

hybrids is obviously a great bottleneck for cotton breeding and needs to be widened to meet

Usefulness and Utilization of Indian Cotton Germplasm

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/58619

129

Mapping populations, mainly recombinant inbred lines (RILS), have been developed to genetically dissect the agronomic and fibre quality traits in cotton at several Indian institutes

**a.** TNAU, Coimbatore (RILs derived from 1) *G. hirsutum* var. KC3 and *G. barbadense* var. Suvin 2) *G. hirsutum* var. MCU5 and *G. hirsutum* var. TCH1218 and 3) *G. hirsutum* var.

**b.** CICR, Nagpur (RILs derived from 1) *G. arboreum* var. Kwan-3 and *G. herbaceum* var.

**c.** UAS, Dharwad (RILs derived from 1) *G. hirsutum* var. DS-28 and *G. barbadense* var. SB

**d.** IARI, New Delhi (RILs derived from *G. hirsutum* var. P56\_4 and *G. hirsutum* var. RS 2013). The above said mapping populations are considered as valuable resources for identification of molecular markers linked to key fibre quality traits such as fibre length and strength besides drought tolerance and cotton leaf curl virus disease resistance traits. The major constraint that hampers the precise and early identification of tightly linked markers is the availability of informative polymorphic markers (due to narrow genetic diversity exist in the above men‐ tioned parents; see above) which are essential for the construction of high-resolution genetic map. To overcome this difficulty, a co-ordinated effort is being formulated with a grateful financial support from Department of Biotechnology, Government of India to constitute a network project on developing saturated genetic linkage maps of cotton using different mapping populations available in India and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip developed at National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow (Dr. Samir Sawant, personal communication). Development of such saturated genetic linkage map will eventually be utilized for quantitative trait loci (QTL) identification of cotton fibre yield and quality traits. Among the different types of mapping population, development and employment of RILs is being pursued in selected cotton institutes including TNAU to utilize donor cotton breeding materials for genetic analysis of the desirable characters (see below). Selected superior recombinant line shall be used in enhancement of genetic stocks through molecular breeding and development of more productive and eco-friendly new varieties/hybrids tailored to fit

At TNAU, Coimbatore evolution of new cotton varieties with drought tolerance, jassid resistance and improved fibre quality traits is the major breeding objective. In particular, there is a need to develop ideotype suitable for rainfed cultivation since large cotton cultivating area

Jayadhar and 2) *G. hirsutum* var. IRH 1-4-4 and *G. hirsutum* var. AKG 2/50),

YF425 and 2) *G. herbaceum* var. jayadhar and *G. arboreum* var. DLSA17) and

**7. Mapping populations for genetic dissection of agronomic and fibre**

the demands of both farmers and textile industries.

SVPR2 and *G. barbadense* var. Suvin),

into the future and existing cropping systems.

**quality traits**

including:
