Cotton Breeding in India-Past, Present and Future.

India is the second largest producer of cotton in the world producing 37.5 million bales (170 kg each) from 11.5 million ha.  Gossypium hirsutum hybrids with Bt Transgenic technology are grown on over 90 % of the total hectareage. One of the challenges faced by cotton farmers in India is the high picking cost due to scarcity of farm labour and rising labour wages. Although farm equipment companies are ready to supply cotton harvesters, there are no commercial cotton hybrids available in the country that are suited morphologically to machine harvest. Current hybrids require a long growing season and the non-synchronous maturity of upland cotton requires multiple cycles of hand harvest.  Breeding programs are working aggressively on product development for machine harvesting. Identification of phenotypes that can be planted at higher densities, compact phenology, and improved agronomics will help India achieve an average yield of 766 kg ha^-1 , which is the  global average for upland cotton.

A shift to hybrids that will tolerate higher density planting rates will require an increase in the production of planting seed. A challenge will be to produce sufficient hybrid seeds with hand emasculations and pollinations. Although efforts have been made to exploit male sterile systems, few mail sterile-based commercial products have been released. Systematic breeding to increase heterosis in male sterile based hybrids and/or use of transgenic techniques for seed production are prerequisites to meeting ever increasing hybrid seed demand.