Unveiling genetic variation in Egyptian cotton (Gossypium barbadense L.) germplasm: A combined approach of morphological characterization and multivariate analysis

Cotton (Gossypium sp.) is a commercial crop that is predominantly grown in tropical and subtropical regions, with India emerging as the largest producer globally. This study focused on the genetic diversity and morphological characterization of Gossypium barbadense L., the second most cultivated cotton species. Comprehensive data encompassing qualitative and quantitative traits, spanning morphological attributes to yield-contributing parameters were documented and analyzed using appropriate statistical analysis. The findings indicate the significance of specific attributes, viz., the number of monopodia and sympodia per plant, boll weight and fiber fineness, which emerged as highly reliable markers for selection. These traits exhibit elevated genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation, along with substantial heritability and genetic advance as a percent of the mean. Based on per se performance, genotypes SBS 66, SBS 79 and EC 98254 will serve as a source for the selection of parents for improving traits viz., boll weight, upper half mean length, fibre fineness and single plant yield. Principal component analysis divided the total variance into 14 components and cluster analysis segregated the germplasm into 5 distinct clusters, highlighting the substantial genetic variation and the genotypes 3530, CBS 202, ERB 4488 and EGYPTIAN, which can be used as parents in the future breeding programme.