Registration of two germplasm lines with improved lint yield and fiber elongation in upland cotton

Two conventional upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) germplasm lines, NC18‐05 (Reg. no. GP‐1082, PI 697272) and NC18‐06 (Reg. no. GP‐1083, PI 697273), were developed by the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at North Carolina State University. The lines were bred for fiber elongation within yield‐competitive phenotypes. The two lines were derived from a randomly mated population using multiple parental lines. Both NC18‐05 and NC18‐06 produced equivalent or higher lint than commercial cultivars ‘DP393’, ‘SG747’, and ‘UA48’ during 2 yr in Clayton, NC. Germplasm line NC18‐05 produced 1507.2 kg ha–1 of lint, which was 36.2% higher than DP393 and 29.4% higher than UA48 (p