Abstract
The aim of present study was to evaluate resistance of five elite cotton cultivars viz., CIM-506, VH-145, NAIB-999, NIAB-111 and FH-900 against Tetranychidae mites infestation in relation to plant morphological characters in the farmer field trial at Multan. NIAB-999 was found to be the most resistant variety whereas, FH-900 was least resistant having over all mean populations of mites, 0.22 and 1.54 per leaf respectively. Regarding morphological characters of leaf, variety NIAB-999 showed the maximum hair density (504 cm 2) on leaf lamina, FH-900 possessed lowest number of gossypol glands (28 cm(2)) on leaf lamina and minimum thickness of leaf lamina (0.023 mm) on top portion. It was concluded that cotton genotype NIAB-999 showed maximum resistance against mite population due to maximum hair density, medium gossypol glands and minimum hair length on leaf among the other tested genotypes.