Genetic diversity among colored cotton genotypes to obtain potential parent plants

The objective of this study was to analyze the genetic diversity among colored cotton fiber genotypes using technological characteristics of the fiber, seed cotton yield and percentage of fiber, to identify potential parents with high performance. The experiment was conducted in the Brazilian city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, during the 2016/2017 harvest. Twelve colored fiber genotypes were used in a randomized block design. The characteristics that were evaluated included micronaire, maturation, fiber length, length uniformity, short fiber index, fiber resistance, elongation, seed cotton yield and percentage of fiber. Genetic divergence was estimated using the Mahalanobis generalized matrix with Unweighted Pair Group with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) and the Tocher method. The Singh method was used to evaluate the relative contributions of the characteristics in the divergence. In detecting divergence, fiber length and maturation were observed to have contributed the most. In order to obtain segregant populations with greater genetic variability and greater productive potential, hybridizations between UFUJP-17 and UFUJP-16 with commercial cultivars could be promising. Crossing UFUJP-16 with commercial controls would have a higher chance of success of producing superior fiber quality