Cotton Research Station (CRS) Sahiwal With the collaboration of the Agriculture department of Punjab established a cotton research substation at Sahiwal in 1948 for the improvement of cotton in the tract. Realizing the importance of the tract in cotton production, the sub-station was upgraded to a fully-fledged research station in 1972.
The objective was to accelerate the research work to evolve high yielding varieties with better fibre quality and resistance to insect /pest and disease. Because of hectic research, the varieties SLH-41 and SLS-1 were released in 1984 and 1995 respectively.
The research for the evolution of still better varieties remained in progress and a new strain SLH-171 have proved better in progress. It was expected to be released but during 1992-1993 and later whole the cotton-producing areas were adversely affected by cotton leaf curl virus disease (CLCuV) and due to the appearance of symptoms of disease CLCuV in SLH-171, the idea of putting up its case for approval was dropped. Moreover, most of the new promising strains in the pipeline had also fallen victim to this disease.
The breading programme was then started afresh to evolve CLCuV resisted variety. Many new strains have been developed resistant to CLCUV disease with desirable fruiting and fibre characteristics including Bt. SLH-4, SLH-6, SLH-8, Bt. SLH-12, Bt.SLH-16 and Bt.SLH-18 and one or two may be released for general cultivation in near future. A non-Bt. Cotton variety SLH-317 has been approved during the year 2012 and SLH-8 in 2016 for general cultivation in the Sahiwal region.
Area Details CRS
- Total area 126.25 acres
- Area under roads and building 9.10 acres
- Direct cultivation 23.10 acres
- Area under tenant cultivation 62.60 acres
- Total area leased to Pioneer Seeds 25.00 acres
- Land under-tenants residential purpose 6.45 acres
Achievement of Cotton Research Station (CRS), Sahiwal
SLH-41:
Evolved during 1984 early maturing, high ginning outturn, better fibre characteristics, and high yielding. It is a cross between two new strains i.e. S178/68 and 2267/70. Plants of this variety are medium tall in height with 2-3 monopodial branches. Profusely hairy and resistant to sucking pest particularly the jassids. Tolerant to cotton leaf curl virus. Its bolls are medium in size and roundish in shape. It gives 3-5 mound more yields per acre than B-557 and is early in maturity. It gives a comparable yield to NIAB-78 with fewer inputs.
Its fiber characteristics are
| 1 | Ginning out turn | 36.5% |
| 2 | Staple length | 28 mm |
| 3 | Fineness | 4.4 |
| 4 | Fiber strength | 95.9 (T.P.P.S.I) |
SLS-1:
Approved 1995 resistant CLCUV high yielding with better fibre characteristics. New strain selected from SLH-100, which evolved through the hybridization of SLH-19 and NIAB-78. Plants are comparatively shorts in stature and sympodial inhabit. Least affected by CLCuV. Profusely hairy and resistant to jassid. Early in maturity and possessed better yield potential than SLH-41 and NIAB-78.
Its fiber characteristics are given below.
| 1 | Ginning out turn | 35.8 % |
| 2 | Staple length | 27.4 mm |
| 3 | Fineness | 4.5 MN |
| 4 | Fiber strength | 95.3 T.P.P.S.I |
SLH-317:
Approved in 2012, it is highly tolerant to CLCUV, high in yielding and has better fibre characteristics
| Origin | G.O.T% | S/ Length |
| FH.113 #SLH.323 | 40-45 | 28-28.5 |
SLH-8:
In 2016, Federal Seed Certification Department approved SLH-8(B.T.) Variety of this station for general cultivation.
Sources: CRS | AARI | literature
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