Screening Cotton Genotypes for Drought Sensitivity and Tolerance across Different Moisture Conditions at the Seedling Stag

Abstract

In a completely randomized design, the study assessed 40 different cotton genotypes at the seedling stage under three different moisture levels, 100%, 75%, and 50% of field capacity, in triplicate under a split-plot. Principal component analysis was used to examine the data and choose genotypes that were sensitive to and tolerant of drought. Under three moisture levels, the first three principal components showed more than one eigenvalue. In 100%, 75%, and 50% of field capacity, respectively, the first two principal components (F1 and F2) contributed 49.65%, 56.73%, and 65.99% cumulative variability. The best selection markers under conditions of water deficit at the seedling stage were found to be RFW, SDW, RL, SFW, RWC, LRN, and ELWL.  At 100% of field capacity, the genotypes IUB-212, IR-3701, NS-121, VH-295, FH-142, VH-144, AA-802, FH-113, NIAB-111, and IR-3 performed better and were shown to be drought tolerant; at 75% of field capacity, the genotypes IUB-212, VH-295, VH-144, NIAB-111, IR-3701, and NS-121 performed better and were proven to be drought tolerant. VH-295, IUB-212, and VH-144 were better performers while FH-1000 and CIM-443 were poor performers at all three moisture conditions