Effect of temperature on growth, productivity, and fiber quality of upland cotton cultivars in Central Greece

To assess the response of cotton cultivars to different temperature regimes in three experimental sites of Greece, field experiments were conducted at three different locations (Kopaida, Elatia, and Farsala) in Central Greece. Two cotton varieties, ‘Elsa’ and ‘Med 10-19’ were sown in the three locations for three consecutive growing seasons (2020, 2021, 2022) using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Growth in height, leaf dry weight, seed yield, boll number, boll weight and fiber quality parameters were measured throughout the growing seasons. In addition to the analysis of variance, a genotype, genotype × location and genotype × year biplot analysis, was used. Temperature has a significant effect on the development of plant architecture, number and weight of bolls, seed yield and quality of the produced fiber. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that annual extreme year-to-year temperature variations due to climate change exert an effect on plant and fiber characteristics, with observed variability of up to 83%. The ‘Elsa’ variety was also more productive and produced higher quality fiber than the ‘Med 10-19’ variety during the experimentation. Temperature variations can have a positive as well as a negative effect on plant and fiber quality. The yield and quality of cotton can be affected by temperature and weather conditions to a significant extent, with variations in these factors accounting for up to 83% of the observed differences. The remaining influence is attributed to genetic differences and the applied agricultural practices.