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  • Which cotton hybrids have been developed in Pakistan?
  • To date, H-115, H-151, and H160 are the only cotton hybrids which have been developed in Pakistan, but the poor standard for seed maintenance along with higher cost of seed production further limits the hybrid cotton breeding.
  • How are hybrid cotton seeds produced in Pakistan?
  • Hybrid cotton seeds are commercially produced by manual emasculation and pollination. Because of the high cost of seed production and limits of male sterility systems, the hybrid cotton production however is still at the low level of utilization in Pakistan.
  • Why is hybrid cotton important in Pakistan?
  • The development of hybrid cotton has practical significance in Pakistan. It can overcome the problems related to seed impurity by producing genetically and physical pure cotton seeds. At the same time, hybrid cotton can be cultivated in wider regions with the advantage of superior yield coupled with improved fiber quality and stress resistance.
  • How has breeding improved cotton production in Pakistan?
  • By conventional breeding, cotton productivity, fiber quality, disease resistance, and stress tolerance have improved dramatically (Bourland and Myers 2015). In Pakistan, selection and hybridization breeding techniques have been extensively applied to develop cotton varieties.
  • Why is cotton production stagnant in Pakistan?
  • Despite the global significance of cotton, its production is stagnant since last few decades in Pakistan. Regardless of other problems, the following breeding constraints considerably limited cotton yield and fiber quality. In Pakistan, conventional breeding designs are widely used to produce target genotypes.
  • Why is cotton a major source of foreign exchange in Pakistan?
  • Cotton is a vital source of foreign exchange in Pakistan. However, seed cotton yield along with total cultivated area is continuously decreasing in last few years. Climate change and emergence of new diseases significantly influence yield potential of already approved cotton genotypes.