Cotton is an important cash crop of almost all developing countries including Pakistan. It is backbone of textile industry. Cotton yields are stagnant for the last several years due to a number of factors including: lack of agronomic practices, shortage of rain, biotic and abiotic stresses. Drought stress, poses the most important constraint to plant survival and crop productivity. It is responsible for shedding of small squares on large scale, resulting in a decrease in flowering. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the response of cotton genotypes at seedlings stage against drought stress. The experiment was conducted under Randomized Complete Block Design using factorial arrangements with three replications. The treatment plant of the experiment included two factors genotype (eleven) and drought levels (control, 50% drought and 75% drought stress). After 50 days the data was recorded on the seedling parameters (root and shoot length, root and shoot fresh & dry weight, relative water contents, excised leaf water loss). It was found that DPL-70010N, DPL-2775 and A-8100 were drought tolerant in both conditions. It’s important to note, that these genotypes are non-Bt, so it can be concluded that non Bt varieties are comparatively more drought tolerant as compared to the non-Bt and this is useful information for cotton breeding programs for drought tolerance.
A Fri, study studied this question.