Over 120 cotton growers and their spouses recently gathered in Tampa, Florida, for the 15th annual Deltapine NPE Summit. Cotton growers involved in the New Product Evaluator program plant experimental Deltapine varieties each year and give their input on which varieties should be selected to be released commercially each year.
Five new varieties will be released for the class of 2023—two are Bollgard 3 ThryVon varieties with XtendFlex technology and the other three are Bollgard 3 XtendFlex varieties.
“Over the last 15 years we’ve certainly seen increases in yield and fiber quality through the NPE program,” said Keylon Gholston, retired Deltapine cotton products manager and current NPE grower. “I think the varieties this year have high yield potential, but not only that. What impresses me most about the class of 2023 is the native trait resistance from bacterial blight, verticillium wilt and root-knot nematode. It gives growers protection against pretty prevalent diseases across the belt.”
The first variety released was DP 2333 B3XF, a mid-maturity Bollgard 3 XtendFlex, smooth leaf variety for the Mid-South, Southeast and South Texas regions. It is a good companion or replacement for DP 2038 BX3XF. It is also a good companion to DP 2127 B3XF and 2115 B3XF. DP 2333 B3XF is bacterial blight resistant with lower micronaire. It has moderate verticillium tolerance. This variety is also the highest yielding variety with bacterial blight resistance for Georgia and mid-South states with a history of bacterial blight. It showed excellent fiber quality potential and even delivered farm-record yield average for some NPE growers. Eric Best, Deltapine cotton product manager, said DP 2333 B3XF was so impressive in its experimental phase its supply is limited due to increased demand from growers.
“Deltapine 2333 on my farm has produced the highest yield that I had,” Gholston said. “It’s just a really neat set of genetics with a lot of native trait resistance and extremely high yield potential.”
The next variety released was DP2349NR B3XF. This mid-to-full-maturity Bollgard 3 XtendFlex variety is best suited for the lower Southeast and lower mid-South. It is a smooth leaf variety with resistance to bacterial blight and root-knot nematodes and moderate tolerance to verticillium.
The third variety announced was DP 2335 B3XF, a mid-maturity Bollgard 3 XtendFlex variety with a strong fiber package, smooth leaf and resistance to bacterial blight and verticillium tolerant. DP 2335 B3XF performed best in West Texas.
The next variety was DP 2317 B3TXF, a smooth leaf Bollgard 3 ThryVon with XtendFlex that was best suited for the mid-South and Texas markets. This early maturity variety offers outstanding fiber quality potential, moderate tolerance to verticillium and resistance to bacterial blight.
The final variety released was DP2328 B3TX, a mid-maturity Bollgard 3 ThryVon with XtendFlex variety. It is a good fit for the mid-South, Southeast, Upper Gulf Coast and Brazos Bottom regions of Texas. This smooth leaf variety has a strong fiber package, is moderate resistant to bacterial blight and moderate tolerant of verticillium.
“The most recent classes of Deltapine brand cotton varieties have demonstrated strong performances on farms and we are now bringing that diversity of high-performing germplasm into the newest biotech trait platform as well,” Best said.
To learn more about the NPE program and the new varieties, visit www.deltapine.com/NPE.
Lacey Vilhauer can be reached at 620-227-1871 or [email protected].
