Gossypium hirsutum L. is also called upland cotton or Mexican cotton. It is the most widely
cultivated species of cotton in the whole world. Globally, about 90% of all cotton production
comes from the cultivars derived from this species. Some genetic parameters like monopodial
branches per plant, sympodial branches per plant, sympodial branch length, bolls per
plant, boll weight, sympo-boll distance, Ginning Out Turn%, staple length (rg = 0.9199**),
and fiber strength along with seed cotton yield were evaluated for their potential utilization
via selection in seed cotton yield improvement. Significant positive genetic correlations were
estimated for monopodial branches per plant (rg = 0.9722**), sympodial branches per plant
(rg = 0.7098**), sympodial branch length (rg = 0.617**), bolls per plant (rg = 0.8271**),
boll weight (rg = 0.8065**), sympo-boll distance (rg = 0.6507**), Ginning Out Turn (GOT)%
(rg = 0.7541**), staple length (rg = 0.9199**), and fiber strength (rg = 0.7534**) with seed
cotton yield. A path analysis of all the yield traits under study revealed strong positive direct
effects of monopodial branch length (1.1556), sympo-boll distance (0.8173) and staple
length (0.7633), while plant height exerted a highly strong direct negative effect (-1.2096) on
yield. It is concluded that a direct selection based on monopodial branch length and sympoboll
distance, and staple length is effective, whereas, monopodial branch length, and sympodial
branch length are good selection indicators via bolls per plant for yield improvement
in cotton.