PhytoGen Advances Two New W3FE Varieties for 2020
December 23, 2019 PhytoGen is adding two new cottonseed varieties in 2020 – PHY 400 W3FE and PHY 500 W3FE – to the company’s wide-ranging portfolio of shorter-season 200 series, early season 300 series, mid-season 400 series and fuller-season 500 series varieties.
The two new varieties exceeded criteria for commercial advancement after on-farm evaluations were completed by more than 75 PhytoGen Horizon Network (PHN) growers this year. This innovative group of producers from across the Cotton Belt recently met to assess PhytoGen brand pre-commercial varieties tested on their farms this year.
“We’ve been doing variety work for 15 years, and this was the strongest and most consistent trial we’ve ever seen,” said Southeast producer Mike Griffin, an inaugural PHN member.
Based upon their evaluations and multiple years of trial data from PhytoGen cotton development specialists and breeders, PHY 400 W3FE and PHY 500 W3FE were the clear front-runners.
All PhytoGen W3FE varieties available in 2020 have PhytoGen Breeding Traits for built-in protection against diseases and pests.
“For every pocket of the Cotton Belt, we have W3FE varieties that fit – all with bacterial blight resistance and most with additional protection from root-knot nematodes and Verticillium wilt,” said Joel Faircloth, PhytoGen U.S. Cotton Portfolio Manager.
New Mid-Maturity Addition to 400 Series
The newcomer PHY 400 W3FE is a mid-maturing, medium height, semi-smooth leaf variety that fits and performs well on both irrigated and non-irrigated land. Griffin reports the new variety packed on the fruit and responded very well to plant growth regulators.
“PHY 400 W3FE was neck and neck all season long but pulled ahead as the front-runner on our farm late in the season,” he said. “It was very easy to manage and will definitely be on our farm next year.”
As growers discovered, PHY 400 W3FE is very manageable and responds well to higher inputs and productive soils. It also has PhytoGen Breeding Traits for bacterial blight and root-knot-nematode (RKN) resistance.
The new variety has also performed very well in pending Official Variety Trials across the Cotton Belt in 2019. For example, in preliminary data of the combined trials in Central and South Texas (three Monster and 16 RACE trials), it outyielded competitors by 66 lb./A and $38/A, while winning highest lint value outright in 9 of 23 trials.
Along with the newly released PHY 400 W3FE, the PhytoGen brand mid-maturing products – PHY 480 W3FE, PHY 430 W3FE and PHY 440 W3FE – all feature excellent protection thanks to PhytoGen Breeding Traits. PHY 480 W3FE, for example, is the top-performing RKN-resistant variety in the upland market.
PHN Members Add New 500 Series
PHY 500 W3FE, the mid- to full-maturing newcomer, is one of the most consistent cotton varieties available. It has a broad area of adaptation, fitting across a wide range of soil types from the Mid-Atlantic to the Southeast and across West Texas. PHY 500 W3FE is a top-yielding, smooth-leaf variety with excellent fiber characteristics, including micronaire, strength and staple.
It joins the later-maturing PHY 580 W3FE to round out the 500 series for growers who want longer season varieties in 2020.
Austin Warbington, a PHN member from Vienna, GA, planted half of one farm to PHY 500 W3FE and half to the returning PHY 580 W3FE. Both, he reports, are very good full-season varieties.
“They both have the ability to push through a lot of stress,” he said. “We planted seven or eight varieties across our farms in 2019, and PHY 500 W3FE and PHY 580 W3FE were two of our best.”
Warbington explains that most fields in his part of the country have root-knot nematodes, so the RKN resistance in both varieties is a major benefit to him.
“We can plant these varieties on fields with root-knot nematodes, and it’s almost like planting a rotational crop because we eliminate up to 90% of the nematode population,” Warbington said.
PHN Members Impressed With 300 Series
The earlier-maturing 300 series varieties – PHY 300 W3FE, PHY 320 W3FE, PHY 330 W3FE, PHY 340 W3FE and PHY 350 W3FE –all return for growers to choose from in 2020.
“Our 300 series varieties were selected for consistent, high yield potential,” Faircloth said. “They’ve been great fits where the popular PHY 333 WRF and PHY 312 WRF have worked in the past, and the yield potential is stabilized by PhytoGen Breeding Traits, including bacterial blight resistance.”
Released last year, the very broadly adapted PHY 350 W3FE continues to excite PHN members and is in high demand across the Cotton Belt.
“PhytoGen 350 has proven to be a widely adapted, consistent performer in our area and is popular, along with PHY 320 W3FE,” Griffin said.
Leader in Pima and Acala Quality Cottonseed
PhytoGen is the market leader in cotton in the western United States and sells more Pima cotton varieties than any other American-based seed company. Growers can choose from PHY 841 RF, PHY 881 RF and PHY 888 RF, all with the PhytoGen Breeding Trait for Fusarium Race 4 tolerance.
For the latest data and information about PhytoGen brand varieties and the PhytoGen Breeding Traits, visit the PhytoGen website or the PhytoGen Facebook or Twitter pages.
Based on information provided by PhytoGen
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