CAJ | 학술논문

In the process to the marketing of cultivars, identiifcation of superior test locations within multi-environment variety trial schemes is of critical relevance. It is relevant to breeding organizations as well as to governmental organizations in charge of cultivar registration. Where competition among breeding companies exists, effective and fair multi-environment variety trials are of utmost importance to motivate investment in breeding. The objective of this study was to use genotype main effect plus genotype by environment interaction (GGE) biplot analysis to evaluate test locations in terms of discrimination ability, representativeness and desirability, and to investigate the presence of multiple mega-environments in cotton production in the Yangtze River Valley (YaRV), China. Four traits (cotton lint yield, ifber length, lint breaking tenacity, micronaire) and two composite selection indices were considered. It was found that the assumption of a single mega-environment in theYaRV for cotton production does not hold. The YaRV consists of three cotton mega-environments: a main one represented by 11 locations and two minor ones represented by two test locations each. This demands that the strategy of cotton variety registration or recommendation must be adjusted. GGE biplot analysis has also led to the identiifcation of test location superior for cotton variety evaluation. Although test location desirable for selecting different traits varied greatly, Jinzhou, Hubei Province, China, was found to be desirable for selecting for all traits considered while Jianyang, SichuanProvince, China, was found to be desirable for none.