Fred Bourland, cotton breeder and researcher at the Northeast Research and Extension Center at Keiser, examines cotton varieties being tested in research plots at the Lon Mann Cotton Research Station at Marianna. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Fred Miller)
KEISER, Ark. When Fred Bourland left the family cotton farm in Mississippi County for the University of Arkansas, clear across the state in Fayetteville, he had anything but farming on his mind.
“I grew up around cotton,” Bourland said. “When I went to college, I was planning to get as far away from cotton as I could.”
Bourland began his work when a class in cotton breeding sparked his interest in 1969. Fred Bourland received the A. L. Vandergriff Cotton Pioneer Award from the Southern Cotton Ginners Association for 2021.
Fred Bourland still hand picks a lot of cotton. He s been at it for a little over 50 years.
As a cotton breeder he has spent a lot of time walking cotton fields, selecting varieties to advance in successful breeding programs. There s a lot of stories about how fast he picks cotton, said Bill Robertson, cotton agronomist at the University of Arkansas. He understands the cotton plant. He understands it agronomically. He understands farming from the farmer s point of view.
‘Pests, climate change and yield key worries’
January 07, 2021
Experts concerned about stagnant yield in India Climate change, insects and lower yield have emerged as top three big challenges that global cotton sector would have to battle for in the coming decade.
Researchers and experts from International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) were unanimous in raising concerns about the impact of poor yield, prevalent diseases, climate change and competition with man-made fibres as some of the top challenges for cotton crop during the decade through 2030.
Thirteen eminent cotton scientists awarded by ICAC as Researcher of the year since 2009 provided the outlook in an ICAC document Cotton Vision 2030.