The interaction between breeding and crop management in improved
cotton yield
New cultivars, improved management and their interactions are key drivers of yield progress in field
crops.
This study examined the contribution of these factors to cotton yield increase in Australia with
the adoption of 23 key locally bred cultivars developed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organisation (CSIRO) cotton breeding programme up to 2006.
A lint yield dataset of advanced
line trials from 1980 to 2009 (325 experiments) was analysed by a linear mixed model when split into
two 15-year periods. These trials were conducted at up to 15 irrigated sites each year,
and best linear
unbiased estimates (BLUEs) of cultivar yield and two long-term controls (Deltapine 16 and Namcala)
were used to assess yield trend.