**Cotton Germplasm Collection of Uzbekistan**

Ibrokhim Y. Abdurakhmonov, Alisher Abdullaev, Zabardast Buriev, Shukhrat Shermatov, Fahriddin N. Kushanov, Abdusalom Makamov, Umid Shapulatov, Sharof S. Egamberdiev, Ilkhom B. Salakhutdinov, Mirzakamol Ayubov, Mukhtor Darmanov, Azoda T. Adylova, Sofiya M. Rizaeva, Fayzulla Abdullaev, Shadman Namazov, Malohat Khalikova, Hakimjon Saydaliev, Viktor A. Avtonomov, Marina Snamyan, Tillaboy K. Duiesenov, Jura Musaev, Abdumavlyan A. Abdullaev and Abdusattor Abdukarimov

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/58590

**1. Introduction**

Uzbekistan, the northernmost cotton growing country, is the sixth largest cotton producer and the second largest cotton exporter in the world [1] with annual production of 0.85-1.0 million metric tons of fibre valued at ~US\$0.9 to 1.2 billion [1; 2]. Cotton is grown in ~30% of all lands available for crop cultivation in the country. Uzbekistan's cotton lint fibre yield was close to the world average of 753 kg/ha in 2010/11 [4] and was estimated at 804 kg/ha in 2012/13 and 812 kg/ha in 2013/14 [1; 5].

Cotton farming is affected by commonly observed cotton pathogens and pests, as well as major environmental stress factors (salinity, drought, heat, etc.) that greatly impacts the quality and yield characteristics of cotton cultivars. Therefore, the major objectives of the cotton breeding programs of Uzbekistan are the improvement of cotton fibre quality, lint yield, agronomic productivity, maturity,and resistance to various diseases, pests and abiotic stresses. During the past century of cotton production Uzbekistan prioritized and promoted cotton research and farming methods that resulted in increased cotton farming expertise, and the breeding of highly adapted, very-early maturing cotton cultivars suitable to be grown in the northern latitudes and arid zones [6; 7; 8]. This led to the development of a large number of cotton

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germplasm resources, which are being preserved and maintained for cotton genetics and breeding research that target current and future needs of the cotton improvement for different soil-climatic regions of Uzbekistan [1; 2; 3; 8].

**3. Content of Uzbekistan cotton germplasm collection**

The main cotton germplasm collections are being historically preserved at the research centres and institutions of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan (ASUz), Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Uzbekistan (MAWR), and the biology department of the National University (NU) of Uzbekistan. Table 1 summarizes and highlights the general content and description of cotton germplasm resources of these main collections. These collections maintain cultivars, wild and primitive, predomesticated landraces, hybrids breeding and genetic stocks, cytogenetic and mutant lines of widely cultivated allotetra‐ ploids(*G. hirsutum* and *G. barbadense*) representing the primary gene pool, and two cultivated Asian diploids (*G. herbaceum* and *G. arboreum*) representing the secondary gene pool. Although some redundancy of accessions maintained by collections could be possible and is a subject for future comparative inventory work, each collection has its own specifici‐ ties and has been formed according to distinctive research efforts conducted by the scientists

**Germplasm type** *G. hirsutum G. barbadense G. arboreum G. herbaceum*

**Institute of Genetics and Plant Experimental Biology (IG&PEB), Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan (ASUz**) Cultivar/Line 3735 827 736 338 5636 Wild landraces 402 6 25 11 45 489 Hybrids 321 84 30 20 187 642 Unclassified 445 53 66 178 742 Total 4903 970 857 547 232 7509 **Uzbek Scientific Research Institute of Cotton Breeding and Seed Production (UzSRICBSP), Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (MAWR), Republic of Uzbekistan** Cultivar/Line 6597 908 200 161 28 7894 Wild landraces 568 27 38 21 101 755 Hybrids 1200 645 232 162 58 2297 Unclassified 722 648 155 294 35 1854 Total 9087 2228 625 638 222 12800 **Uzbek Research Institute of Plant Industry (UzRIPI), Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (MAWR), Republic of Uzbekistan** Cultivar/Line 2105 64 44 55 314 2582 Wild landraces 846 8 25 43 99 1021 Mutants 1 1 - - - 2 Hybrids 76 152 - - 19 247 Unclassified 1414 482 74 9 240 2219 Total 4442 707 143 107 672 6071

**Other species**

Cotton Germplasm Collection of Uzbekistan http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/58590 291

**Total**

**3.1. Main collections**

of these institutions for past decades.

Aspects of Uzbekistan cotton germplasm resources including the content, distribution, descriptions, characterizations, utilization, genetic and molecular diversity, maintenance, and ongoing and prospective research previously have been highlighted in several documents [2; 3; 7; 8; 9; 10]. In this chapter, we provide a detailed inventory of the Uzbekistan cotton germplasm collection, review previous reports and add updated information including the development and characterization of novel germplasm resources.
