DEVELOPMENT OF IMPROVED COTTON VARIETIES
WITH MEDIUM TO LONG FIBRE LENGTH AND
APPROPRIATE MANAGEMENT OPTIONS
Presenter: Orawu Martin
Presentation During Annual Review Meeting on August 29 th, 2012 for 2011/2012 at NaSARRI
Cotton Program Staff
Scientists:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Dr. Epieru George
Entomologist
Mr. Ogwal Solomon
Entomologist
Dr. Takan PeterPathologist
Mr. Elobu Pius
Agronomist
Dr. Orawu Martin
Plant breeder
Ms. Gladys Amonding
Plant breeder
Technicians:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Mr. Aru Charles
Mr. Ogwang Robert
Mr. Ogwang C.O
Mr. Ocan James
Mr. Okello Paul
Support staff:
1.
Mr. Okure Micheal
2.
Ms. Alupo Rose
3.
Ms. Amito C
4.
Ms. Akiteng Jesca
Cotton breeding (currently on study leave)
Cotton breeding
Cotton breeding
Cotton agronomy
Cotton Pathology
Gin fitter
Field assistant
Field assistant
Field/lab. assistant
Assets/Infrastructures

Office building - 1 and Office space – 7 rooms

Laboratory Spaces – 4: (Entomology 2, Breeding 1 and Pathology 1)

Field and land utilisation – 35 acres

Transport: 1 pick up
Problems affecting Cotton Production
 Low cotton yields
 Reduction in soil fertility in most farmers’ fields
 Infestation of major insect pests mainly cotton stainers, lygus bugs, aphids and
bollworms
 Prevalence of cotton diseases mainly Bacterial blight and Fusarium wilts
Fig. 1. Cotton Aphids and damage
caused to leaves, sucks off plant sap
Fig. 3. Young American Bollworm larva boring
into a cotton square
Fig. 2. Cotton Lygus bugs and damage caused
to leaves
Fig. 4. Cotton Stainers and damage caused to
leaves and bolls
Fig. 5. Bacterial blight - vein blight symptoms
on leaves
Fig. 6. Bacterial blight- angular leaf spot
symptoms on leaves
Fig. 7. Fusarium wilt on mature cotton plants
Specific objectives for period 2011/2012

Develop high yielding cotton varieties with good fibre characteristics

Generate appropriate agronomic management options in cotton

Generate options that enhances soil fertility in cotton cropping systems

Generate integrated pests management options for the control of major insect pests in cotton mainly
cotton lygus bugs, bollworms, aphids and stainers

Generate integrated disease management options for control of diseases mainly wilts and bacterial
blight
Project Annual Achievements for Period 2011/2012

120 cotton accessions were assembled on-station and phenotypically characterized

13 elite cotton lines with good agronomic traits were selected for crossing with 10 long staple cotton
varieties

130 F1 crosses were generated between 13 elite cotton lines and 10 long staple cotton varieties

Six organic foliar fertilizers were tested on cotton. Organic NPK, Megacole and Push increased
cotton yields by 19, 12 and 2 % respectively

Growing Mucuna puriens for two months on fields to which cotton was later planted, increased
available phosphorous by 87% leading to increase of 49 % in seed cotton yields of organic cotton
in farmers’ fields in Gulu

Site selection for the survey on the distribution and abundance of natural enemies of lygus bugs,
bollworms, aphids and cotton stainers were conducted in Gulu, Lira and Pallisa

Observations and data collection on spiders, lacewings, lady bird beetles, syrphid flies
were carried out on station

On station multiplication and evaluation of identified natural enemies of the three important pests
were carried out

Preliminary observations showed that the three pests share common predators. There is
need to determine predator-pest ratio that enables establishment of effectiveness of
predators
Annual Achievement Cont’d

Use of alternative host plants as baits for the management of lygus, bollworms and strainers was
carried out
 Intercrops like maize, sorghum, pigeon pea, sunflower and pearl millet as baits for bollworms,
lygus and stainers from cotton was planted
 Preliminary results showed that bollworms preferred Maize>Pigeon pea>Sorghum>Pearl
millet>Sunflower in that order
 For Lygus the preference is Pearl millet>Sorghum>cotton

Efficacy of organic and inorganic pesticides was evaluated: Twiga Lace 100 EC was recommended for
popularization on-farm
 Technical report on efficacy of Engeo was written

Cotton germplasm was screened for resistance to Bacterial blight and Fusarium wilts
 24 lines showed good resistance to bacterial blight, but most showed low infection to fusarium
wilt disease under field conditions

Tested five seed dressing chemicals (Three new chemicals - Cruiser Extra, Apron Star and Maxim, and
two old chemicals Cuprous oxide and Bronopol)
 Preliminary results on testing of seed dressing trials at NaSARRI and Ngetta ZARDI showed
that Bronopol and Cuprous oxide were the most effective seed dressing chemicals
on bacterial blight disease followed by Apron Star, Cruiser Extra and Maxim the least
 At Pallisa, result showed that Maxim and Cuprous oxide were good at reducing Fusarium wilt
incidence followed by Apron Star, Bronopol and Cruiser extra the least
Constraints/Problems

Lack of proper screen-houses to carry out various activities

Most cotton accessions evaluated had short fibre length

Growth regulators and defoliants intended for testing on cotton were not available in the market
during the season

Lack of availability of laboratory reagents/chemicals for molecular studies on races of Fusarium and
Verticillium fungi

Lack of flow or available funds at time of doing specific activities e.g. prevented testing of organic
foliar fertilizers in other areas that have low soil fertility

Inability to make fields ready on time led to planting of all on-station cotton trials outside the planting
windows

Delays in protocols prevented testing of transgenic cotton tolerant to Roundup application and
resistant to bollworm damage under confined field trials at NaSARRI and Kasese for the third season

Too much rain interfered with management of field activities

Inflation raised the cost of labour

Irregular power supply interfered with laboratory activities
Challenges encountered during project implementation

Delayed and insufficient remittance of funding made planting to be carried out late

Lack of a functional tractor for on-station field operations delayed implementation of planned
activities

Lack of fibre testing equipment delayed obtaining data in time. Data usually sent to CDO head
office for analysis

Erratic power supply to the ginnery delayed ginning of seed cotton before data were generated for
analysis

Lack of a vehicle to execute program activities during on-farm trials

Lack of acquisition of some cotton differentials or genetic markers for identification of races of
Fusarium Oxyporium or Verticillium dahliae.
•
Acquisition of seed dressing chemicals is problem as they are rare in the local market
Strategies to overcome challenges in the next implementation period of the
project

Timely remittance of funds to the institute to enable timely activities to be executed

Hire a tractor from outside during field preparation

Borrow a vehicle from other programs

Send the samples for fibre test analysis to CDO head office

Periodic servicing and repair of the available standby generator in case of power fluctuation

Need to source some differentials from other research bodies with a similar wilt disease problems

Make contacts on seed dressing chemicals with major cotton producing countries
Lessons learnt

Farmers seem to like varieties with big bolls, irrespective of the yield, and some of them prefer
varieties with indeterminate growth

Need to carry out more research work to improve on the boll size of BPA 2008

Release of funds is not in line with the planned activities thus making the execution of activities
very difficult
Research activities in progress

Complete conducting the survey, site selection was done

Three acres planted for further determination of predator pest ratios for establishing the effectiveness of
natural enemies in managing lygus bugs, bollworms and stainers in cotton

Five acres planted for further Screening of Engeo for effectiveness in the control of cotton lygus bugs,
bollworms and stainers

Seven acres planted for further validation of use of IPM options in the control of cotton lygus bugs
bollworms and strainer

Complete establishing status of wilts on cotton in Uganda

Determining races of Fusarium oxysporium and Verticillium dahliae prevalent in Uganda

Screening cotton germplasm for resistance to Fusarium and Verticillium wilts, and bacterial blight

Screening seed dressing chemicals for control of Fusarium oxysporium and Verticillium dahliae in cotton
Collaboration/partnerships

Cotton Development Organisation (CDO) on breeding, seed multiplication, testing of seed dressing
chemicals, policy advice and training on demonstrations

NOGAMU in Uganda on participatory testing of Mucuna puriens to improve soil fertility in Gulu for improved
performance of organic cotton

Monsanto in USA as source of funds for testing transgenic cotton tolerant to Roundup application and
resistant to bollworm damage under confined field trials, and as providers of the technologies

Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) through CDO in the areas of local and International training in all
aspects of cotton research and production

UGCEA for input supply, training and demonstrations

ICAC for international and regional meetings

SEACF for regional research planning

Syngenta for inputs (insecticides)

Balton for Inputs (insecticides)

Twiga for Inputs (insecticides)

India for Training, infrastructure

AGRO ECO – Provides funding and collaborates on long staple cotton research
Planned annual outputs for period 2012/13

•
Output 1: Phenotypic descriptors of cotton accessions developed by 2013
Key activities: Collecting, characterizing and maintaining of cotton accessions

•
Output 2: At least 120 cotton accessions collected and genotyped by 2013
Key activity: Genotyping of 120 cotton accessions

•
Output 3: At least 100 cotton lines with long staple fibre and desired agronomic traits selected from F2
segregating populations
Key activity: Hybridizing and selecting F2 segregating populations

•
Output 4: Appropriate agronomic options for cotton generated
Key activities: On-station testing of different growth regulators and cotton defoliants on cotton

•
Output 5: Options that enhance soil fertility in cotton cropping systems generated
Key activities:
1) Testing various foliar fertilizers on cotton at different plant densities on-station and at TVCs
2) Evaluating effectiveness of cover crops to improve soil fertility for cotton
3) On-farm testing of Mucuna puriens to improve soil fertility for organic cotton production
Planned annual outputs for period 2012/13 cont’d

Output 6: Distribution and abundance of natural enemies of lygus, bollworms, aphids and cotton
stainers established
•
Key activities
1) Surveying on the distribution and abundance of natural enemies of lygus bugs, bollworms,
aphids and cotton stainers
2) Field collection and multiplication

Output 7: Effectiveness of at least 2 natural enemies evaluated at different agro-ecologies
•
Key activities: Determining the effectiveness of natural enemies in managing lygus bugs,
bollworms, aphids and stainers in cotton

Output 8: Effectiveness of at least 2 promising pesticides against major cotton pests evaluated
at TVCs and farmers’ fields
Key activity: Evaluating synthetic pesticides for their effectiveness in the control of cotton lygus
bugs, bollworms, aphids and stainers
•

Output 9: Four inter-cropping systems evaluated at TVCs
•
Key activity: Evaluating use of inter-cropping systems in the management of cotton lygus bugs
bollworms, aphids and stainers

Output 10: Integrated Disease Management (IDM) options for cotton wilts generated
•
Key activity: Establishing the status of wilts on cotton in Uganda
1) Determining the races of fusarium oxysporium and verticillium dahliae prevalent in Uganda
2) Screening seed dressing chemicals for control of fusarium oxysporium and verticillium dahliae
in cotton
PARI Publications

All quarterly reports for the year were written and submitted to appropriate destinations

Demonstrations and leaflets depicting profitability of inter-cropping cotton with legumes and
other technologies were exhibited during the National Agricultural Show, World Food Day and
Pastoral Week

Contributed the section for cotton to the NARO mandate crops: contribution to household
income and food security, May 2012

Provided an input to the CDO Cotton Documentary, a video-recorded in May 2012. NaSARRI’s
Approach and Innovations to Boost Crop Resistance to Disease and Drought in Uganda:
Agricultural Review: Journal of the Agricultural Industry in Africa 17: 16-18

Technical report on evaluation of biological efficacy of Engeo 247 EC (Lamda Cyhalothrin
106g/l + Thiamethoxam 141g/l) was done

Revised edition of Farmers’ Cotton Guide
Acknowledgments

NARO

ATAAS

CDO

GOU - Development and Recurrent budgets

Monsanto - USA contributed some funds for CFT facilities and core staff maintenance

Other partners