From Need to Seed
At Deltapine, we pursue breeding innovations that solve growers' problems and continue our legacy of performance.
Turning Grower Feedback Into Game-Changing Varieties
We constantly update our product portfolio to address growers' changing needs. Built on a foundation of elite genetics, our unmatched investment in research and development, extensive global breeding program, vast collection of cotton germplasm, and rigorous region-specific testing mean our customers can be confident that every seed product delivers through yield, fiber quality and tolerance to environmental stress.
Follow the journey from grower need to new seed below.
Follow the Journey From Need to Seed
Identify Needs
Our growers' success is our priority, and we are constantly striving to introduce new and higher-performing varieties to address the specific needs of each region.
"We are developing products that are high yielding and have excellent fiber quality. We are also responsible for delivering disease resistance and nematode resistance. Those are the key traits that farmers are looking for to get the best on their farm from the varieties that we sell."
- Nilesh Dighe, Line Development Breeder, Lubbock Research Facility
Identify Candidate Lines
Deltapine® brand's cotton breeding program draws from one of the most extensive collection of cotton germplasm sourced from across a global network. Our seed chipper technology allows us to collect and analyze thousands of cotton DNA samples every year, from which we pinpoint the precise characteristics needed to solve a grower's needs.
Breeding Trials
Variety candidates go through extensive internal testing prior to commercialization, with thousands of lines grown and evaluated in a range of environments.
Small-plot and strip trials help our teams identify the most promising individual lines by evaluating yield performance, fiber quality, agronomic fit and management criteria. We also test how candidates perform under various moisture levels as part of our commitment to industry sustainability. At locations across the Cotton Belt, we monitor new lines in unique water-availability scenarios for vigor, nematode resistance, yield and fiber quality.
New Product Evaluators
The New Product Evaluator Program identifies select growers across the Cotton Belt to evaluate new product candidates. With large-acre plots, NPEs test under their own management conditions, collecting valuable data on characteristics like regional fit, maturity, fiber quality and disease resistance that help us decide which varieties join the next class. NPEs often plant 50-100 acres of candidate varieties each season, making it a large commitment for the growers who choose to participate, but many are veterans of the program and are dedicated to bringing game-changing varieties to market season after season. Learn more about our NPE Program.
Roughly 200 selected growers across the Cotton Belt are currently testing nine new varieties in real-world conditions for the Class of 20. This evaluation includes six candidates in the Southeast, Mid-South and Far West regions, and seven candidates in the Southwest region with a focus on identifying Bollgard® 3 XtendFlex® varieties for each region.
Commercialization
After variety candidates have progressed through all the steps of our commercialization process, they are ready for market.
When the first class of XtendFlex® varieties were launched in 2015, they didn't just provide high yields — they gave growers another weapon against resistant weeds. See what's next for XtendFlex technology: