Molecular Soil Biology 2025, Vol.16, No.3, 114-125 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/msb 121 8.5 Challenges encountered and local adaptations The main problems faced by this region are erratic rainfall and high temperatures. Sometimes there are droughts, which are not conducive to cotton growth. To cope with these problems, local farmers chose more drought-tolerant varieties, adjusted sowing times, and strengthened irrigation management. This improved cotton yields and oil stability (Malalha et al., 2023; Khalid et al., 2022). Pests and diseases are also a major problem. Farmers have successfully reduced losses by using highly resistant varieties and comprehensive prevention and control measures. 9 Challenges and Knowledge Gaps 9.1 Limited awareness and market channels for oil-cotton Although cottonseed oil is a very useful byproduct with a global market, cotton varieties specifically used for oil extraction are not well known. Many people do not know the value of these varieties and do not know how to promote them. The current policy and market system do not support oil-producing cotton enough, resulting in farmers and companies not paying much attention to this type of cotton. Market development has not kept up, and it is not easy to sell the product (Keller et al., 2024). 9.2 Climate risks and varietal stability The yield and oil content of oil-producing cotton are greatly affected by weather and environment. Different varieties perform significantly differently in different places. Some varieties produce more in one place, but not in another place. The interaction between genes and the environment (also called GEI) makes this instability more obvious. Climate change, extreme heat or low rainfall also make it more difficult to breed varieties with strong adaptability. In addition, there are still many technical difficulties in improving both stress resistance and high oil content at the same time (Gupta et al., 2023; Malalha et al., 2023; Thangaraj et al., 2024; Saleem et al., 2024) (Figure 2). 9.3 Seed availability and quality control The seed supply of high-oil cotton is still unstable, and good seeds are hard to find. Farmers want to plant, but sometimes the seeds they get are of different quality, some are impure, some have low germination rates, and some have poor adaptability. These problems affect farmers' enthusiasm and the progress of promotion (Wu et al., 2022; Sapkota et al., 2023). What's more serious is that the current seed quality standards are not unified, and key indicators such as purity and germination rate mostly lack systematic testing and management methods (Wu et al., 2022). 9.4 Gaps in mechanization and post-processing infrastructure The planting and processing of oil cotton are not mechanized enough. The planting and harvesting links in the field mainly rely on manpower, which is not efficient. Most of the existing cotton machinery is designed for fiber cotton, and there are not many special machines for oil cotton. Cottonseed oil extraction equipment is also relatively backward, and processing technology cannot keep up. This makes the entire industry inefficient and costly, which is not conducive to the expansion and strengthening of oil cotton, and also limits farmers' income (Keller et al., 2024; Thangaraj et al., 2024). 10 Conclusion and Future Perspectives Breeding and planting of oil cotton have made a lot of progress in recent years. Studies have found that the content and fatty acid composition of cottonseed oil are affected by varieties, environment and management methods. Different cotton genotypes and environmental combinations will have different performances, and there is still a lot of potential to be exploited. Varieties such as Irma Q302 and Irma A2249 are not only high in oil content, but also stable in performance. If combined with reasonable irrigation methods (such as underground drip irrigation with 80% ETc), scientific fertilization and foliar nutrient spraying, cotton yield, oil and protein content can be further improved, and the fatty acid structure can be more ideal and have higher nutritional value. Planting more densely and choosing the right sowing time can also improve yield and benefits.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ4ODYzNA==