BASF announced the addition of three new cottonseed varieties to its robust cotton portfolio. Based on input from on-farm testing through BASF Agronomic Performance Trials (APT) and other company trials, BASF will launch one new FiberMax cotton seed variety, FM 1730GLTP — and two new dicamba-tolerant Stoneville cotton seed varieties, ST 5091B3XF and ST 4993B3XF — for the 2021 season.
“Our cotton growers deserve the very best, which is why we only release varieties that meet our standards of quality and performance,” says Malin Westfall, head of U.S. Cotton Business at BASF. “We tested across the Cotton Belt, all soil types, management types and growing conditions. Of our seven experimental candidates, three of our varieties were found to bring significant value to our growers.”
Both of the new Stoneville varieties are tolerant to Liberty herbicide, Engenia herbicide and glyphosate herbicides. All three new varieties provide three-gene lepidopteran resistance, helping growers manage yield-robbing worms.
The new 2021 BASF cotton seed varieties include:
FiberMax Cotton Seed
FM 1730GLTP: For growers in the Southwest who want very early maturity, BASF cotton seed FM 1730GLTP offers very good root-knot nematode tolerance and good Verticillium wilt tolerance.
“FM 1730GLTP is a new GlyTol/Liberty Link/Twinlink Plus variety that possesses excellent fiber quality and tolerance to root knot nematodes, which will improve its fit across a number of acres in the Southern High Plains,” says Kenny Melton, PhD, Western Region Agronomic Manager for BASF. “This variety performed well across the entire Southwest, performing even better in the shorter growing seasons of the Texas Panhandle.”
Stoneville Cotton Seed
ST 4993B3XF: Growers across the Cotton Belt who want an easy-to-manage crop with early to mid-maturity will reap the rewards when planting ST 4993B3XF. It’s a potential high-yielder, resistant to bacterial blight and offers good storm tolerance.
ST 5091B3XF: A new potential high-yield variety for growers in the Eastern Cotton Belt, South and East Texas is ST 5091B3XF, which offers a strong fiber package and a good plant type for all soils.
“ST 4993B3XF was a strong performer across the entire Belt, especially in West Texas,” says Melton. “The bacterial blight resistance will be a welcome addition to the Stoneville portfolio in areas where that disease has been an issue.”
“Potential high yields over multiple locations, soil types, and management styles led to the commercial release of ST 5091B3XF,” he adds. “This new variety delivers high-yield potential for cotton producers in the Eastern US, along with South and East Texas and provides growers another Stoneville variety option along with the proven performance of ST 4990B3XF.”
