Agricultural
Research Service
50th Anniversary
Local Event
Western Cotton Research Laboratory
Phoenix AZ
Brief History of the Western Cotton Research Laboratory (WCRL),
Phoenix, AZ
1969 WCRL, Entomology Research Division, Cotton Insect Research Branch
was constructed during 1969 to 1970 following spread of the pink bollworm
(PBW) from eastern AZ to CA during 1963-1965.
1972 WCRL dedication and as a result of an ARS reorganization –
WCRL became part of the ARS Western Region, Northern Arizona Area, headquarters,
Phoenix, AZ.
1974 Full staffing of 25 SY, 2 post-doctoral appointees and 65-70 total
employees. Three research units; Cotton Entomology, Cotton Physiology,
Cotton Host Plant Resistance
1974-1985 WCRL, ARS Organizational Associations-Northern Arizona, Area
Office closed, consolidated into the AZ-NM Area, headquarters at Tucson,
AZ; 1980 - AZ-NM Area consolidated with ID, MT, UT. Area to become the
Arid Southwest Area (ASA), headquarters at Logan, UT; 1984 - ASA consolidated
with AZ-NM to become the Mountain States Area (MTA) with AZ, CO, NV, NM,
UT, WY, headquarters at Ft. Collins, CO; 1985 - ARS regions abolished,
Pacific West Area established with AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, WA.
1985-2002 Urban encroachment – 1991 feasibility study for new lab
location, U of A, Maricopa Agricultural Research Center selected. Numerous
within laboratory changes. Currently two Research Units, 13 SY; Cotton
Insect Pest Management/Biological Control, Cotton Physiology/Genetics
and Host Plant Resistance Research.
Pima breeding as a separate ARS unit abolished. Pima genetics and germplasm
improvement assigned to Cotton Plant Resistance Unit.
2002-2006 Final Congressional appropriation for the new Maricopa facility,
2003. Targeted date for relocation and consolidation of WCRL and Soil
and Water Conservation Labs.
Some major accomplishments
Cotton Entomology
Baculovirus and tissue culture-plaque assay; commercially adopted lepidopteran
feeding stimulant, late-season cotton boll-PBW diapause relationship,
perennial cotton ecology and increased pests and disease, short-season
cotton, quantifying predation, PBW sterile moth release, PBW pheromone
behavioral control, sweetpotato whitefly (SPW) 5-year plan, SPW threshold-based
IPM, ARS Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Response Team.
Cotton Physiology
Irrigation system to relieve cotton plant stress; cotton square shed
analysis, cotton nitrogen deficiency stomatal closure and water stress,
temperature-abscisic acid stomata relationships, stomatal response and
abscisic acid (ABA), ABA and guard cell responses, ABA and cotton seed
vivipary, cotton leaf photosynthesis-cotton boll sugar-ethylene production
and abscission, photoperiod and carbon linkage to leaf sucrose and starch
breakdown in the dark, biochemical mechanism for inhibition of photosynthesis
by heat stress, carbohydrate (CH2O)n demand, boll tissue sucrose synthase
and (CH2O)n for bolls and yield.
Cotton Host Plant Resistance and Plant Breeding
PBW and nectariless cotton, PBW resistant variety reduced insecticide
use 60-70%, 40 sources of PBW resistant cotton germplasm, PBW and nearly
immune transgenic cotton, cotton leaf crumple resistance.
Pima S-7 cultivar, heat tolerance and stomata conductance. Okra leaf
nectariless, early maturity, high fiber quality Pima germplasm lines
(18) and 230 elite breeding lines released.
A Brief History of the
USDA Pima Cotton Breeding Program
1897 H. J. Webber assumed the leadership of plant breeding
research in the USDA. He began an initiative to introduce Egyptian extra
–long staple (ELS) cotton into the American Southwest.
1901 The first experimental production of Egyptian ELS
cotton in the U.S. occurred in Yuma, AZ.
1908 The USDA American-Egyptian ELS cotton breeding
program moved to the Gila River Pima Indian reservation at Sacaton, AZ.
1910 The first USDA developed American-Egyptian cultivar
“Yuma” was released. American ELS cottons began to assume
the generic name “Pima”.
1953 Establishment of the Agricultural Research Service.
1957 The USDA field station at Sacaton was closed and
the Pima breeding program moved to the University of Arizona Cotton Research
Center, Phoenix, AZ.
1986 The Pima breeding program organizationally became
part of the Cotton and Insects Genetics Research unit of the Western Cotton
Research Laboratory, Phoenix, AZ.
1987 The Pima breeding program moved into the University
of Arizona Maricopa Agriculture Center, Maricopa, AZ.
1993 The Pima breeding program (cultivar development)
was abolished and the Pima genetics and germplasm enhancement project
was established.
Major Accomplishments
1910 First cultivar, “Yuma”, developed by
T.H. Kearney, was released.
1918 The cultivar “Pima”, developed by T.H.
Kearney, was released.
1935 The cultivar “SxP”, developed by T.H.
Kearney, was released.
1936 The cultivar “Amsak”, developed by
R. Peebles, was released.
1948 The cultivar “Pima 32”, developed by
R. Peebles, was released.
1957 The cultivar “Pima S-1” was released
by the USDA, ARS and the State of Arizona.
1960 The cultivar “Pima S-2”, developed
by C.V. Feaster, was released.
1966 The cultivar “Pima S-3”, developed
by E.F. Young, was released.
1966 The cultivar “Pima S-4”, developed
by C.V. Feaster and E.L. Turcotte, was released.
1975 The cultivar “Pima S-5”, developed
by C.V. Feaster and E.L. Turcotte, was released.
1983 The cultivar “Pima S-6”, developed
by C.V. Feaster and E.L. Turcotte, was released.
1991 The cultivar “Pima S-7”, developed
by E.L. Turcotte, R.G. Percy, and C.V. Feaster, was released.
For over eighty years the USDA, and later the USDA, ARS, supported the
Pima cotton industry of the southwest through cultivar development. The
advancements the USDA, ARS were partially responsible for the expansion
of the Pima cotton industry into the San Joaquin Valley of California
and the commercialization of Pima cotton breeding in the early 1990’s.
No photos available at this time.
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